Self-Directed Violence: a Multidisciplinary Approach to the Prevention and Management of Adolescent Suicidal Behaviour

This paper is part of an ongoing research project on suicide. It aims to stimulate collaboration among different disciplines, academics and professions in the study of violence in general and adolescent violence in particular in South Africa. As point of departure, this paper reviewed the literature on adolescent suicide in order to explore the possible collaboration between criminology and social work and prevention of adolescent suicide in the study. From the literature review suicide was identified as self-directed violence and a category of violence in general. The authors continued by adapting a criminological approach to the explanation and prevention of violence. They were also able to adopt a social work approach for the management of the after-math of attempted and completed suicide on the direct and indirect victims.