Theory Of Suicide

The current study was a continuation of research conducted by Wright State University School of Professional Psychology doctoral students and faculty. This study employed the suicide database of individuals whose deaths were determined as a result of suicide by the Montgomery County Coroner Office, occurring in the greater Dayton, Ohio area between the years of 2000 and 2009. Various aspects related to the deceased was extracted from the database, which contained information such as suicide notes and investigator reports.

This study aimed to expand upon current theories of suicide and increase understanding of individuals who completed suicides. More specifically, this study sought to determine the predictive function of multiple risk factors

Guided by past research on the choice of suicide method, it was predicted that there would be variance in the demographics, history of the deceased, suicide characteristics, characteristics of the suicide notes, and motivation for suicide based on the choice of suicide method. Due to practicalities limit, it is impossible to include all robust variables associated with suicidal behavior. Consequently, the hypothesis presented below is associated with the review of age, gender, race and ethnicity, prior suicidal behaviors, mental illness, physical illness, and alcohol use. These factors would be discussed in greater details in the literature review

Therefore, it was hypothesized that there would be age and gender differences in the choice of suicide method. Second, it was hypothesized that there would be no race and ethnicity differences in the choice of suicide method. African Americans generally commit fewer firearm suicides due to environmental impoverishment. Even though African American might have difficulty acquiring firearm through legal route, they may be able to purchase an illegal firearm due to the environments they live in. On the other hand, African Americans are more likely to be exposed to violent acts, hence, firearm suicide is more socially acceptable among African American (Stack & Wasserman, 2005). Hence, illegal firearms might offset the ownership factors. In contrast, from the availability perspective, the lower firearm availability factor could cancel out the higher the social acceptability factor for African Americans (Stack & Wasserman, 2005). Additionally, it was assumed that Whites and African Americans are roughly equal in committing other means of suicide such as hanging and cutting. Third, based on the prior history of suicidal behavior, Callanan and Davis (2012) as well as Lester (2012)) report that individuals who had prior suicide attempts were less likely to commit firearm suicide. Therefore, it was hypothesized that individuals with a prior history of suicidal behavior were less likely