Abstract
Why do people kill themselves? This is the question which many disciplines and social scientists search to answer, and it is exactly the question which this book is trying to address, as the author highlights in the preface. Zhang has written this book both for scholars and for non-professionals. For his potential readers – students, social workers and psychiatrists – the writing style is readable and accessible.
Suicide as a social problem is studied not only by psychopathologists but also by sociologists. However, for a long time suicide was seen as an individual problem and a personal choice, or just the result of psychopathologies. In his classical book Suicide: A Study in Sociology, Durkheim gave us the first sociological explanation to this social phenomenon by connecting individual suicide with social structure. However, Durkheim and many other sociologists after him were so focused on the sociological explanation on suicide that they neglected to explore the individual causes of suicide. With the development of psychiatry and psychology, research of the psychological and pathological causes of suicide has made much progress. So there are now two main perspectives: (1) psychology or medicine perspective and (2) sociology perspective.
The former perspective lacks theoretical concern; the latter, however, is not as helpful in identifying and preventing an individual’s suicide. In this book, the author attempts to build up a social psychological theory of suicide, going straight to the point that this book ‘has no intention to repeat existing knowledge’. It is a new attempt to interpret suicide utilizing the ‘Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness’.
Suicide is a worldwide problem, but the reason why people commit suicide varies from one country to another. Furthermore, even in the same country the suicide rate and methods vary in different geographical and cultural areas. Zhang Jie is a scholar who does his research and teaching work in the United States (though he is still associated with Shandong University), but he never loses his academic attention and personal emotional link with his motherland.
With hundreds of theoretical and empirical papers, books and even newsletters, Zhang has developed his Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness. By studying the suicide problem in China systematically and comprehensively with a mature theory and taking both psychological and social factors into consideration, this book is an ambitious and successful academic achievement.
In Chapter 1, the author introduces the status quo of suicide and suicide studies in China. China has more than 1.4 billion people, which means there will be many people who commit suicide, even at a low suicide rate: the most recent number is 9.8/100,000, which means 137,200 people kill themselves every year, although the suicide rate in China has been declining for more than 20 years. The most notable feature of the suicide rate in China is that it is higher in the rural population than in the urban population, and females are more likely to commit suicide than males. However, almost every other country in the world has an opposite ratio. This is why the subtitle ‘A Social Psychological Study in the Chinese Cultural Contexts’ is so important: suicide as a social problem cannot be explained without native contexts. It also suggests that only with psychological factors can the suicide rates in China be really explained.
How do people understand suicide in Chinese culture? More importantly, how does the traditional Chinese culture affect people’s suicide tendencies and suicide behaviors? These are the first two questions the author poses. Above all, this book discusses the effect of Confucianism. Confucianism dominates the daily life of Chinese people whose values, such as that men hold a higher position than women, can increase Chinese people’s suicide tendencies, a thesis supported by empirical studies. But some values, such getting along with one’s neighbors in harmony, can decrease suicide tendencies. The relation between suicide and gender, marriage, religion and economic development are also taken into consideration.
Chapter 3 is the core section of this book, because Zhang’s complete and systemic discussion and elaboration of the Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness makes this chapter vital: not only for this book but also for studies of suicide. The Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness was developed from the concept ‘Strain’ and related theories on suicide and crime. The vital point this theory upholds is that psychopathologies do not directly and inevitably lead to suicide. It is the third variable ‘Strain’ that connects suicide and psychopathologies. The most important thing is that the concept ‘strain’ connects the micro and macro perspective of suicide studies: strain comes from social structure and social process, but its effect is on the specific individuals.
According to the author, there are four kinds of strain: value strain, aspiration strain, deprivation strain and coping strain. When two conflicting social values or beliefs are competing in an individual’s daily life, the person experiences value strain. If there is a discrepancy between an individual’s aspiration or highest goal and the reality with which the person has to live, the person experiences aspiration strain. When an economically poor individual realizes some other people of the same or similar background are leading a much better life, the person experiences deprivation strain. Facing a life crisis, some individuals are not able to cope with it, and then they experience coping strain. When one or more strains occur in an individual’s experience, he or she may show suicide tendency or even worse, may commit suicide.
The Strain Theory of Suicide provides a successful formal model to research suicide in different cultural contexts and different geographic areas. How can we measure a specific culture’s effect on suicide? The answer from the Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness is to measure the four kinds of strains. As mentioned before, culture, religion and other demographic variables will affect people’s suicide behaviors. But they show their influence through strains. To study the suicide problem in China with classic western theory or other paradigm is not easy because of the huge difference in cultural backgrounds, not to mention the difficulty in building an analytical framework which can explain suicide among different cultural contexts. However, Zhang is successful in bringing the Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness forward.
The Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness has made up an existing gap between the micro and macro perspectives of studying suicide. We can also say the split was between different subjects: psychology and sociology. Social strains are affected by many micro factors, such as personality and individual experiences, as well as the macro social structure, social policies and traditional culture. However, an individual’s mental condition can be shaped by social factors and this is in fact recognized by sociologists and social psychologists. Social structural tension affects individuals in the form of social strains. Individual mental states and the social psychological climate influence each other by and in the form of ‘Social Strain’. This two-way relationship shows the importance and explanatory power of social strain.
The last chapter discusses the social psychological research method of suicide and measurement tools. Zhang emphasizes the psychological autopsy (PA) which is now widely used in psychology. Through his very detailed introduction of PA, researchers and students can apply their study easily by following the steps. Considering most of the recent works have utilized western research methods, Zhang discusses the necessity to localize the main measurement tools such as the ‘suicide intent scale’ (SIS) and so on. As to the practical application of the Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness, Zhang and his academic team also devised the Psychological Strain Scales (PSA). Researchers studying suicide utilizing the Strain Theory of Suicide and mental illness can directly use the PSA, whose reliability and validity had already been tested and approved. This book provides other measure scales for researchers in the final chapter, which ensures this book is also excellent as a reference book.