Question

1.Why should the criminal justice system concern itself to the extent it does with the crisis of suicide? Shouldn’t people have the right to end their lives?

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2.Discuss whether you believe suicide is primarily the result of external sociological conditions and circumstances, or more the result of internal psychological factors. Or is it a combination of both?

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3.Discuss some of the major differences between teen suicide and adult suicide.

Answer 1

• 1.Many argue that a decision to kill oneself is a private choice about which society has no right to be concerned. This position assumes that suicide results from competent people making autonomous, rational decisions to die, and then claims that society has no business "interfering" with a freely chosen life or death decision that harms no one other than the suicidal individual. If direct killing is legalized on request of a competent person, under court precedents that have already been set, someone who is not competent could be killed at the direction of that person's guardian even though the incompetent patient had never expressed a desire to be killed according to the 14th amendment of the U.S constitution.
• 2.There are social, psychological, and biological factors that contribute to suicide risk.The social factors consist of contexts with a low degree of social integration or low social regulation. Suicide is more common in highly individualistic contexts where individuals lose the strong bonds that traditionally provided social support. Also, suicide is more common in social contexts undergoing large-scale cultural transitions.Suicide rates are often higher in nations that have higher standards of living.Higher level of achievements and success puts pressure on people leading to suicides as well.Suicide is also the result of an intense level of emotional pain that exceeds the individual’s threshold to endure it. It is a manifestation of all these factors.
• 3. Adults are more significantly certain of the possible fatal outcome of their attempt of suicide and have a significantly more severe intention when harming themselves.Adolescents may display more impulsive and less lethal directed behavior than adults or, alternatively, they are more frequently admitted for less severe attempts.
• Teen suicide attmepts involve more anger,risk taking and drug abuse. They make more nonfatal attempts. They might have a family history of divorce or suicide. They have low self esteem and get more influeunced by interpersonal relationships leading to suicides. Even media can influence them more strongly.
• Adults suffer from career problems,financial stress,family problems which can lead them towards suicide. The societal pressures and emotional pressures make them give up on life.