Critical Suicidology ─ Transforming Suicide Research and Prevention for the 21st Century

In Critical Suicidology, a team of international scholars, practitioners, and people directly affected by suicide argue that the field of suicidology has become too focused on the biomedical paradigm: a model that pathologizes distress and obscures the social, political, and historical contexts that contribute to human suffering. The authors take a critical look at existing research, introduce the perspectives of those who have direct personal knowledge of suicide and suicidal behavior, and propose alternative approaches that are creative and culturally sensitive. In the right hands, this book could save lives.

Jennifer White is the director and an associate professor in the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria, Canada. Ian Marsh is a senior lecturer in the School of Allied Health at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. Michael Kral is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Wayne State University, Detroit, and a faculty member in the department of psychiatry, University of Toronto. Jonathan Morris is a sessional instructor in the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria, Canada. Contributors: Yvonne Bergmans, Rob Cover, Michael Dineen, Simone Fullagar, Joseph P. Gone, Heidi Hjelmeland, Lori Idlout, Katrina Jaworski, Denise Johnson, David Newman, Wendy O’Brien, Vikki Reynolds, Andrea Rowe, Marnie Sather, Daniel Scott, and Lisa M. Wexler.