NCJ Number
139014
Date Published
1992
Length
35 pages
Annotation
Over the past three decades, the problem of youth suicide in Australia has worsened considerably; the suicide rate among adolescent boys aged 15 to 19 is now 17 per 100,000 population, while the rate among girls is 4.7 per 100,000 population for a total of approximately 9,000 lives lost per year.
Abstract
The period of increasing youth suicide is strongly correlated to the high youth unemployment rate and resulting fear of economic deprivation. The author points to other statistics which indicate that, because of socialization patterns, unemployment negatively affects males more than females. There is considerable clinical evidence linking youth suicide to dysfunctional parent-child relationships in which the parental figures are frustrating, rejecting, and unkind. There have been dramatic changes in the organization and socioeconomic status of the Australian family which may have significantly affected the youth suicide rate. Other factors correlated to youth suicide include increases in other forms of violence including homicide, alcohol and drug abuse, delinquency, and crime. Mental health problems and the disjunction between citizenship rights and experiential autonomy are also pointed out as predictors of juvenile suicide. 5 tables, 3 figures, 3 notes, and 27 references