Toward understanding youth suicide in an Australian rural community.
Australia has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the western world, especially among rural men. This paper discusses the social construction of this issue in Australia and explores the issue through interviews with 30 young people and 12 key informants from a rural town in NSW. Findings suggest that young people struggle to deal with conflict in social relationships, that community discourses shape young people's understandings and that suicide is talked about in reference to depression. Implications for youth suicide prevention in Australian rural communities are discussed.
School of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, VIC 3632, Australia. bourke@unimelb.edu.au
Lisa
L
Bourke
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D014478:Unemployment; D000092864:Suicide Prevention