Resource Tag: ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE

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Altruistic suicide has a long history in India. In ancient times, 2 forms were practiced: Jauhar, a kind of mass suicide by women of a community when their menfolk suffered defeat in battle; & Sati, a suicide of a widow on the funeral pyre of her husband or after the cremation. The practice of Jauhar […]

This article explores common political & social-psychological factors involved in acts of self-immolation that took place in Vietnam & South Korea in the later part of the 20th century. Drawing upon the work of Durkheim, the author identifies some key analytical distinctions between altruistic suicide & cases of self-immolation. Using suicide notes, diaries, & letters […]

Explains the high suicide rate in Sri Lanka through a psychological analysis of the way in which Sri Lankans deal with conflicts. This “conflict culture” includes psychological factors, such as high rates in collectivism & power distance, repressive education, influence of foreign cultures, religion, & posttraumatic stress symptoms. Proposes structural changes toward another “conflict culture,” […]

This article provides an account of a 13-year-old girl who thought that taking her own life would result in her parents paying more attention to her younger brother. The child mentioned within the article did not want her brother to feel the same neglect that she felt as a child. The author discusses the pain […]

This article discusses the events of September 11, 2001 & public response to the terrorists attacks. Particularly, the author highlights signs of large-group regression, the phenomenon of suicide bombers, the education of suicide bombers, the next generation of suicide bombers, & regression in the US as a result of September 11. (34 refs)

This article discusses the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in terms of the mental health of individuals who would plan their own suicides & kill others in the process of committing a terrorist act. The roles of religion, martyrdom, obedience to leadership, & possible individual psychopathology are discussed. (5 refs)

This article discusses the actions of four black men who took five white people hostage during a court trial in 1970. At the time, three of the men were serving prison sentences & claimed that their actions were a revolutionary attempt to attain their freedom. Knowing the situation might lead to their own deaths, they […]

The present analysis aims to discover who Palestinian suicide terrorists are, & what drives them to commit these acts. The analysis relies on the concepts of altruistic & fatalistic suicide from Durkheim’s typology of suicide behavior. The authors argue that based on a newly established database compiled for this purpose, Palestinian suicide terrorists from 1993 […]

This article addresses the misconception that contemporary suicide terrorists from the Middle East are crazed cowards bent on senseless destruction who thrive in poverty & ignorance. The author argues that recent research indicates they have no appreciable psychopathology & are as educated & economically well-off as surrounding populations. He argues that a first line of […]

The author argues that suicide must be divided into two separate categories. One type of suicide lies at the heartland of the concept, and will remain there in spite of linguistic shifts of changes in moral appraisals. The other tupeof suicide lies at the frontiers of the concept and depends upon conventional understanding of the […]

This paper defines what suicide is and provides a schema for its moral evaluation. When an individual takes his/her own life it is suicide unless one of two conditions obtains: he did not truly “choose” his death, or there is an alternate description/intention of the act. The moral evaluation of suicides groups them into three […]

Claims that life is God’s property or gift have been prominent among reasons for rejecting the choice of death as morally legitimate. This essay examines the worth of arguments based upon such claims, considering what assumptions these arguments would require and what implications an approach based on them might have for particular types of cases. […]

The purpose of this article is to evaluate & criticize Joseph Fletcher’s concept of the relationship between the ends & the means in human acts. Significant attention is given to how he goes about assessing the human moral act & to his position on absolute moral norms. The author analyzes a case-story about suicide which […]

The author begins this chapter by addressing the current definition of suicide which he considers as not fully encompassing for such cases as treatment refusal or sacrificial death. Three aspects of these situation need to be distinguished if such acts are to fall within the definition of suicide: Whether the death is intended by the […]

In two articles, Baruch Brody suggests that religious considerations make a difference in the moral evaluation of suicide. This article argues that the religious considerations Brody introduces, when placed in the context of other commonly accepted religious beliefs, e.g., that God is benevolent, will not suffice to justify this alleged difference in the moral evaluation […]

Reflections are presented on Durkheim’s theory of suicide 100 years after it was first formulated. It is suggested that much of the research which purports to test Durkheim’s theory does not in fact do so, & suggestions are made as to how the theory might be tested. Research into whether there is a societal effect […]

This presentation proposes development of a classification of suicide types on the basis of psychosocial circumstances in the hope of suggesting a perspective ancillary to the psychiatric. The basis for this psychosocial perspective is the observation that most societies divide suicide into good & bad forms & that each has its own criteria for when […]

Also published in “Philosophy”, v.59, 1984.

The author argues that most healthy adults would like to have the choice of medical help to die if they become incurably ill and find their suffering intolerable. The reasons for this are explored, based on 10 years of listening and talking about the subject to a wide variety of people in many countries. This […]

This article describes the suicide of Craig Badialis & his girlfriend, Joan Fox, during the Vietnam War. They left 24 suicide notes, stating they died to motivate others to do something peaceful & constructive with their lilves. Biographies of Badialis & Fox are provided. Neither had shown any signs of psychiatric disturbance before their suicides, […]

This article discusses the increase of suicide in England in the 19th century, possibly due to factors like terrible poverty & the erosion of the belief in God. Punishment was severe, with suicide victims buried in shallow graves at a crossroads with a stake driven through their hearts, & their goods forfeited to the court. […]

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