Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84158-1289, USA.
Qual Health Res. 2011 Nov;21(11):1484-94. doi: 10.1177/1049732311412789. Epub 2011 Jun 17.
Suicide is a significant health problem, yet many questions regarding suicide remain unanswered. One of the most frequently asked questions is related to motive: "Why did that person complete suicide?" We explored motivations for completing suicide, especially with regard to cultural differences, by analyzing suicide notes written by Native Americans, Hispanics, and Anglos in New Mexico. Five categories emerged describing motivation: feelings of (a) alienation, (b) failure or inadequacy, (c) being psychologically overwhelmed; (d) the desire to leave problems behind, and (e) reunification in an afterlife. The largest difference to emerge between ethnic groups was in the alienation category, which included more Hispanics and Native Americans than Anglos. The overall lack of differences in motivation among the ethnic groups suggests that commonalities in suicidal behavior outweigh the differences. Practical implications for research and practice are discussed, along with strengths and limitations of the study.
自杀是一个严重的健康问题，但仍有许多关于自杀的问题尚未得到解答。其中一个最常被问到的问题与动机有关：“那个人为什么要自杀？”我们通过分析新墨西哥州的美国原住民、西班牙裔和盎格鲁人的自杀遗书，探讨了自杀的动机，特别是与文化差异有关的动机。研究结果得出了五个描述动机的类别：（a）异化感、（b）失败感或不足感、（c）心理压力过大、（d）希望将问题抛在身后，以及（e）来世的团聚。在不同种族群体之间出现的最大差异是在异化类别中，其中包括比盎格鲁人更多的西班牙裔和美国原住民。不同种族群体在动机上总体缺乏差异表明，自杀行为的共同点超过了差异。本研究还讨论了研究和实践的实际意义，以及研究的优势和局限性。
