Do Suicide Websites Really Encourage Suicide? Content Analysis of Postings to a Japanese Suicide Website

The aim of this research was to reveal the function of suicide websites by examining the language used by individuals to describe their feelings & communicate in a social environment. Content analysis of 7 message boards from a suicide website revealed that the central topic was self-disclosure through communication with others & not death images arising from suicidal intentions. From this research it became clear that suicide websites function in the same manner as self-help groups in the physical world & were not sufficiently biased towards suicide to justify internet regulations at the present time. (14 refs.) JA