Year: 1987 Source: Annual Meeting of the American Association of Suicidology, (20th: 1987: San Francisco), p.60-62 SIEC No: 19880749

In this condensation of his paper the author discusses traditional Finnish attitudes toward suicide as reflected in the Kalevalia. In this national epic, suicide is accepted as a logical consequence of life’s events & man’s own deeds. Although church & state law strictly condemned suicide & cast shame upon it, people still committed it. However, negative attitudes seem to have affected suicide rates, & since this century, with its new, permissive laws, suicide has increased tenfold. (GW)