ABSTRACT
Culture and ethnicity can have an impact on both the phenomena of suicidal behavior and on theories of suicidal behavior, and even on the definition of what is viewed as suicide.
As Douglas (1967) pointed out, a shared linguistic terminology for suicidal behavior is associated with shared meanings of the behavior, and there are also shared associated terms and phrases, such as despair, hopelessness, and “life isn’t worth living.” Douglas emphasized that these terms are not the phenomenon itself but rather are adopted by members of the culture (or subculture) to construct meanings for suicidal behavior. However, because the terms are rarely clearly defined or detailed and because there is often disagreement among commentators on their meaning, it follows that the meaning of suicide is ambiguous. Furthermore, because these terms are used to construct meanings for suicidal behavior, then estimates of the incidence and circumstances of suicidal behavior are in part a social construction.
