[Air-l] Suicidal behaviours in online communities references?

[Angela Thomas]

Dear All,

A colleague of mine is researching youth suicide, and wants to discuss the
internet as a potential site for support for youth considering suicide. 
He is particularly concerned with arguing against one study which seemed
to uncritically assign blame to "the internet" as a site which provoked
and encouraged suicide.  He has sent me further details (see below) of
this request with a context for his argument and asked me if I could help
him out.  Unfortunately I haven't explored the literature about this so I
was wondering whether anybody on the list might know of any studies I
could point my colleague to please?

Many thanks,
Angela

___________________

I wonder if you could help me out with a reference or two to solid
empirical studies that show that people's on-line (virtual?)identity and
reports of behaviour may not be an accurate reflection of their off-line
(real life?) identity and behaviour?  I have included a few paragraphs
below to indicate the context of the reference.  In brief, some
researchers believe that b/c a person posts one or more notes on line to a
discussion group saying s/he is going to commit suicide and then goes
quiet, that s/he did do so. I think that the absence of further posts from
a person with the same screen name is not particularly strong evidence of a
completed suicide.

************************
Baume et al (1997) argued:

"The plea of Nick W (“I’m gonna do it any day now really I promise”)
suggests that he may have felt compelled by his internet participation to
follow through with suicide.  If it were not for his public commitments he
might have been able to adopt a more constructive approach to
problem-solving without losing face" (p.77).

Our problem with statements like this is that there is no other evidence to
justify the authors’ conclusions, which they appear to accept uncritically.
Given recent work on on-line identity, there is even some possibility that
Nick W never existed, or that he is alive.  Undeterred by these doubts,
Baume et al (1997) continue:

"It is all too easy for self-destructive individuals to incite others to
kill themselves.  Hence, the internet has considerable potential for a
powerful collective destructive force to develop, impacting on ambivalence
in a way that may make suicide more likely" (p.77).

That may be so, but it is also the case that the Internet could be a
powerful agent in suicide prevention by providing support to people
reaching out for help.  The weight of argument in Baume et al’s work
however, is on the negative.  Second, even if the two cases of suicide
Baume et al presented were real, that some people choose to describe their
anguish and prospective death on the Internet does not provide evidence
that these postings contributed to their deaths, let alone encouraged
anyone else to follow suit.

The speculation continued:

"What is also worth noting in this context is that the individuals who
access the internet in general may differ from those who watch more
television or videos.  These young people seem to be already more
vulnerable, with high risk taking behavior, substance abuse, and
depression scores than controls [Martin, 1996].  As previously mentioned,
the bulk of those who access the internet are 18-24 years of age
 and this
happened to be a group with a high suicide rate, at least in industrialized
nations” (Baume et al, 1997:78).

Baume et al (1997) concluded by stating: “Cybersuicide is now a reality”
and calling for an “appreciation of technologically initiated suicides ”
as well as the effect of the Internet “on vulnerable populations” (p.78).
In 1998, they suggested that something might need to be done, though they
are not sure, and are vague about what action needed to be taken:

"There is a need
 to consider carefully the special challenges posed by
the Internet and, if necessary, to lobby appropriate agencies and
government departments for action.  In addition, the various State and
national bodies concerned with mental health, media regulation and suicide
prevention strategies may need to formulate policies to counter the
negative influences of the Internet" (p.140).



_______________________________________________________
Angela Thomas
Lecturer in English Education,
Faculty of Education and Social Work
University of Sydney
Phone: +61 2 9351 6229,  Fax: +61 2 9351 2606

"Ceci n'est pas une .signature"

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