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Why Is Suicide A Social Problem

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Introduction: What is the problem?

Recently, news about suicide cases on telephone and newspaper appeared frequently. 22 cases were reported since the first academic year last September 2015. The number of cases reached the annual average cases in last five years. (Lau, 2016) Suicides are a tragedy and global issue that are preventable (WHO, 2014). Indeed, the suicide situation and seriousness among the elderly and youth in Hong Kong were worrying. This paper is to discuss if suicide of elderly is a social problem and how it was defined and analysed with classical sociological theory. Then the elderly suicide problem in recent Hong Kong society will be discussed. Its policies and welfare services will be mentioned and assessed to tackle this …show more content…

Suicide is a problem because, per above mentioned, it happens no matter in a primitive, an industrialized, or a modern society of science and technology. It is certain that suicide appears consistently. Besides the huge numbers of suicide cases annually and globally, there are many suicide attempts for each death and unreported cases in some countries. The negative influence is not only on individuals, but on their families, friends, and community (school/work, religious network). The impact is also devastating and far-reaching to the society. Therefore, suicide is not only an individual problem. What is it?

Suicide is a social problem. Sociologists consider a social problem is an alleged situation that is incompatible with the values of a significant number of people who agree that action is needed to alter the situation. (Loseke, 2011) Suicide is the second leading cause of death among the youth aged 15-29. (WHO, 2014) Youth are the future of generation and work population. The human value and cost of a human life are then should be questioned in the social norm. Besides, a significant number of people, includes governments, international and national non-government organizations, religious groups and education institutes emphasises that actions have to be taken to prevent suicide problem. Therefore suicide problem (of different age groups, races and gender) is also a social problem that …show more content…

Firstly, elderly suicide is a social problem because 34.9% (351 out of 1007 cases) were over 60 years old in 2014. According to Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, for the elderly over 65 years old, although the suicide rate of elderly suicide has declined from over 35 during Year 1985-1995 (in every 100 thousand) persons to 22.8 (in every 100 thousand) in the year 2013, the rate was still the highest among other age groups in Hong Kong. (The Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, 2015)

The suicidual attempts and action were incompatible with the values of a healthy and modern society as a developed city. Compared to countries outside Hong Kong, China, America, Singapore, Japan and Korean also find out the suicidal rate of elderly were also higher than any other people in different age group. Although sociologisit Emile Durkheim thinks that the suicide rates for a society typically shows a stable distribiution from year to year, there are always identification of periodic fluctuations and patterns of suicide

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