A legacy of suicide & suicidal behaviour can be seen as a form of multi-generational family abuse especially in a culture which inadvertently victimizes the survivors. American suicidologists have primarily researched the complex dynamics behind suicide & suicidal behaviour with the individual in crisis as the main focus. Shifting the focus toward the survivors of suicide who have been impacted by a cause of death where the survivors’ risk to die by suicide is increased & their quality of life greatly impaired will demonstrate the multi-generational consequences generated by suicide as a cause of death & by American society’s response to suicide. (10 refs.)