Youth Suicide

Paper Summary:

Of the 300,000 people who attempt suicide every year in the United States, about 10 percent succeed. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in children under 15 years of age; and about one in every ten teenagers will attempt to commit suicide before they finish high school.
Moreover, since 1950, suicide among young people has increased by 250 percent and the number is climbing. In Los Angeles county alone in one year, youth suicide climbed 80 percent. These alarming statistics highlight the importance of the need to fully understand the factors that contribute to suicide among youth. The first part of this paper examines the current research investigating predictors of suicide in young people. To this end, three categories of suicide predictor research are examined: Studies using clinical samples; studies using non-clinical samples and studies comparing predictors of clinical and non-clinical samples. The second part of this paper examines the story of one tragic youth who committed suicide in front of his classmates, as well as the issues faced by youth suicide in one major county. The review ends with the formulation of several conclusions concerning factors that assist in predicting suicide risk in young people.

From the Paper:

"Hutchings (1998) has suggested that another factor that may place children and adolescents at higher risk of suicide is if they witness domestic violence in their homes. In her study of a small sample of adolescents, Hutchings observed that adolescents who witness violence in the home are at an increased risk of trying to handle their own problems using violent methods; probably because their parents have modeled this behavior. Being at increased risk of using violence as a mechanism for coping, Hutchings feels that these teens could well be at increased risk of handling pain via suicide."

More papers on Youth Suicide:

• Research Proposal # 113483 : "Teen Suicide Prevention"
• Analytical Essay # 142197 : "Suicide and Religion: Race and Youth"
• Analytical Essay # 129754 : "Suicide and the African American Woman"

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