Towards a reassessment of the role of divorce in suicide outcomes: evidence from five Pacific Rim populations.

The connection between divorce and suicide risk in Asia is unclear. To understand the contribution of cultural transitions to suicide among the divorced, we compare age- and sex-specific suicide rates among divorced men and women from five Pacific Rim populations: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the state of Victoria in Australia. On a cultural spectrum, we consider Hong Kong and Taiwan to lie between the more individualistic Australian culture and the more collectivistic Japanese and Korean cultures. Coefficients of aggravation (COA) are also compared. Suicide rates were found to be higher among the divorced than among other marital status groups in all five populations, but this difference was small in Victoria. The effect of divorce was significantly greater for men than for women only in Japan and South Korea. In the other populations, divorced men and women were at equal risk. Age trends in suicide rates for the divorced groups differed across populations. The COAs for the divorced group aged 40 or younger in the East Asian populations were higher than the COAs for older divorced groups, though this was not the case in the Victorian population. Suicide patterns among the divorced in the East Asian populations can be understood in terms of the legacy of Confucian traditions. Gender differences in Japan and South Korea may reflect either gender inequality (male dominance in formal interactions and emotional dependence in domestic life within a deteriorating Confucian family support system) or unique socio-cultural factors among married women. Divorced East Asian groups aged 40 or younger may be at a higher risk of suicide due to individual-level cultural ambivalence combined with a desire for systemic-level emotional interdependence. Social welfare regimes in the four East Asian populations need to fill the vacancy left by retreating traditional family systems. Research implications are discussed.

Suicide among foreign residents of Japan.

The suicide rate of Koreans living in Japan is twice as high as that of Koreans in South Korea. Reasons for this high suicide rate are discussed, including effects of economic crises and discrimination.

Martyrs' last letters: are they the same as suicide notes?

Of the 800,000 suicides worldwide every year, a small number fall under Emile Durkheim's term of altruistic suicides. Study on martyrdom has been limited. There has to date, for example, been no systematic empirical study of martyr letters. We examined 33 letters of Korean self-immolators, compared with 33 suicide notes of a matched sample of more common suicides. An analysis of intrapsychic factors (suicide as unbearable pain, psychopathology) and interpersonal factors (suicide as murderous impulses and need to escape) revealed that, although one can use the same psychological characteristics or dynamics to understand the deaths, the state of mind of martyrs is more extreme, such that the pain is reported to be even more unbearable. Yet, there are differences, such as there was no ambivalence in the altruistic notes. It is concluded that intrapsychic and interpersonal characteristics are central in understanding martyrs, probably equal to community or societal factors. More forensic study is, however, warranted.

Protest suicide among Korean students and laborers: a study of suicide notes.

Suicide notes from two groups of protest suicides in South Korea during the period 1975-2003 were compared: suicide notes from students (n =16) and suicide notes from workers (n = 15). The students appeared to be acting upon abstract ideals, including the oppression of the masses by the government and the American forces in Korea, and they typically urged the reunification of Korea. The workers were acting upon more local concerns, such as the oppression of their union by the government and the companies and the policies of their specific companies.

Social integration and suicide in South Korea.

The increasing suicide rate in South Korea in recent decades was found to be associated with measures of social integration/regulation (birth and divorce rates).

Sociopolitical contexts of self-immolations in Vietnam and South Korea.

This article explores common political and social-psychological factors involved in acts of self-immolation that took place in Vietnam and South Korea in the later part of the 20th century. Drawing upon the pioneering work of Emile Durkheim, the author identifies some key analytical distinctions between altruistic suicide and cases of self-immolation. On the basis of suicide notes, diaries, and letters left behind by 22 self-immolators, the author sheds light on the intentions and beliefs of those actors and social significance of their acts. In addition to the unique geo-political circumstances of the Cold War era, under which massive numbers of dramatic public acts of self-immolation took place, the symbolic message imbedded in the acts of self-immolators is explored.