Resource Tag: MEDIA COVERAGE. FICTION

Earlier research by the authors suggested that television broadcasts of fictional suicides led to an increase in adolescent suicidal behavior. This study extends the examinination to other geographic areas. Results indicate that the impact of such broadcasts is less widespread than originally proposed. Suicides increased in the New York & Cleveland regions but not in […]

This article examines school-based prevention programs to determine if they reach those at risk & which ones can be safely put into practice. Considers the likelihood that such programs could have the same negative effect as television coverage. Even experts who differ on other aspects agree on the following steps for schools when instituting a […]

In 1982, Phillips published a paper on the effect of fictional television stories on adult fatalities (see SIEC #831128). This paper calls attention to an error in Phillip’s’s data which invalidates his results. Phillips had used newspaper summaries for soap opera suicide stories; in 8 of 13 cases this method misspecified the date of the […]

This editorial notes that adolescent suicide is a major public health problem & discusses the Werther Effect. Two studies confirm the existence of a statistically significant relationship between media coverage of suicide & temporally associated increases in suicide rates. Implications are discussed & the author calls for more systematic epidemiologic research. (12 Ref.) (LH)

Discusses the effect of television news, feature stories, & movies about suicide on adolescent suicide rates, referring to 2 studies which found significant increases in teen suicide rates following such telecasts. Suggests that the media must be responsible in the way they depict both suicide & the treatment of mental illness & depression, since censorship […]

Describes the effect of a televised soap opera series based on a mock-up of the London Samaritan branch on the work of Samaritan suicide prevention centres. The series of dramatised incidents was highly rated & the Samaritan branches participating in the study reported a 34% increase in new client referrals following the program. The national […]

After the depiction of a suicide attempt on a popular British soap opera, self-poisoning cases seen at the University Hospital in Nottingham increased from an average of 23 a week to 43. Another London hospital noted a three-fold increase in the number of people with overdoses a week after the episode aired.

This article discusses the dilemma the media faces when reporting the suicide of a prominent person: the story is legitimate but there is a potential for imitative suicides. Research by Bollen & Phillips which found an increase in the number of suicides after highly publicized suicide stories is reviewed briefly. A similar effect was found […]

Using the same methods as Gould & Shaffer, who reported a significant increase in teen suicide in the New York area following the televison broadcast of three fictional films about suicide, this study found no evidence of a significant suicide increase for teens in California & Pennsylvania after the same telecast. Authors conclude that it […]

The author discusses both community & corporate response to the airing of Silence of the Heart, a film about the suicide of a teenage boy. He sees the CBC’s broadcast of the film as evidence of the network’s sense of corporate responsibility in providing the opportunity for discussion of suicide among youth, their parents, & […]

This brief letter concerns the movie “Surviving”, which dealt with suicide & aired on ABC in 1985. Despite a warning issued by ABC prior to the movie, the authors noted an unusual cluster of suicides, both in a consultation-liaison service & an emergency ward, in the 2 weeks following the movie. The authors argue that […]

Increasing evidence suggests that imitative behavior may have a role in suicide among teenagers. The variation in the numbers of suicides & attempted suicides by teens in the greater New York area 2 weeks before & after 4 fictional films were broadcast on television. The mean number of attempts in the 2-week period after the […]

Letter to the Editor

This book deals openly with the problem of teenage suicide. The author begins by describing the cases of 6 teenagers who have attempted suicide. The myths about suicide & danger signals are explained, along with factors involved in suicide & other forms of self-destructive behavior. The positive & negative aspects of media coverage of suicide […]

Thomas F. Leahy suggests ways in which corporate enterprise can help in the prevention of suicide, particularly in the area of communication. He discusses the effects of the television movie “Silence of the Heart”, both on the viewing public & on the television industry. (NBB)

This 8-page pamphlet supplies prevention & intervention information about adolescent suicide. The pamphlet can be used as support material for “Surviving”, a 3-hour television drama about a teenage couple who commit suicide. (NBB)

A sociologist examines the imitative effect of publicized suicide & other forms of aggression on the general public. He begins with a discussion of the increase in suicides that followed the publication of Von Goethe’s fictional work, “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. Also discussed are U.S. statistics that appear to support the theory that homicides, […]

A brief discussion of the consequences of increased public awareness of suicide; contagion & suicidal ideation are examined.(NBB)

Mariette Hartley shares her personal experiences with suicide & the related sequence of events that led to her commitment to the theatre as a means of exploring, understanding & ultimately, preventing suicide. She sees the theatre as a safe, dark place where people can “watch what is going on in the head of someone who […]

This article reports on the phenomenon of suicide pacts among young people in Japan. In 1957, 3000 Japanese women (aged 15-24) had killed themselves; 1000 had died in suicide pacts. The case of a young couple who completed a suicide pact is discussed. A record company had planned to release a disk about the couple […]

In 1973, 18,032 young Americans, 15 to 24 years of age, died in motor-vehicle accidents, 5182 were murdered & 4098 committed suicide. For a considerable proportion of American children & youth, the “culture of violence” is now a major health threat. One contributing factor is t.v.’s massive daily diet of symbolic crime & violence in […]

160 undergraduates were asked to evaluate the 1-act play “Quiet Cries” to assess its effects on audience depression, suicide potential, suicide connotation, & possible effects due to media presentation.