Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention in Indigenous Communities: Unexamined Assumptions and New Possibilities

Indigenous communities have significantly higher rates of suicide than non-Native communities in North America. Prevention and intervention efforts have failed to redress this disparity. One explanation is that these efforts are culturally incongruent for Native communities. Four prevalent assumptio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2012-05, Vol.102 (5), p.800-806
Main Authors: WEXLER, Lisa M, GONE, Joseph P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Counseling
Cultural Competency
Culture
Framing Health Matters
General aspects
Health services
Humans
Indians, North American - psychology
Intervention
Medical personnel
Medical sciences
Mental disorders
Mental health care
Mental Health Services
Miscellaneous
Native North Americans
Native peoples
Postcolonialism
Prejudice
Prevention
Prevention and actions
Prevention programs
Professionals
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Sociology, Medical
Suicidal behavior
Suicide
Suicide - ethnology
Suicide - prevention & control
Suicide - psychology
Suicides & suicide attempts
Surgeons General
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Indigenous communities have significantly higher rates of suicide than non-Native communities in North America. Prevention and intervention efforts have failed to redress this disparity. One explanation is that these efforts are culturally incongruent for Native communities. Four prevalent assumptions that underpin professional suicide prevention may conflict with local indigenous understandings about suicide. Our experiences in indigenous communities led us to question assumptions that are routinely endorsed and promoted in suicide prevention programs and interventions. By raising questions about the universal relevance of these assumptions, we hope to stimulate exchange and inquiry into the character of this devastating public health challenge and to aid the development of culturally appropriate interventions in cross-cultural contexts.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300432