The cultural context of youth suicide in Australia: unemployment, identity and gender

Authors

Heidi E. Gilchrist, University of WollongongFollow
Glennys Howarth, University of Bath
Gerard Sullivan, University of Sydney

RIS ID

29254

Publication Details

Gilchrist, H. E., Howarth, G. & Sullivan, G. (2007). The cultural context of youth suicide in Australia: unemployment, identity and gender. Social Policy and Society, 6 (2), 151-163.

Abstract

This article considers the impact, in terms of life and death choices, of the economicexclusion of young people in Australia, where suicide is the leading cause of deathby injury. In the two decades from 1980 there was a dramatic increase in suiciderates for young males. Research demonstrates a correlation between youth suicideand unemployment but the complex relationship between the two has not been fullyinvestigated. This article explores the perceptions of young people, parents and serviceproviders of the cultural context of suicide and how it comes to be constructed as anoption for young people experiencing economic marginalisation.I n