Latinas Attempting Suicide

Abstract

Among teenage Latinas in the United States, suicide attempts occur at alarming rates, sometimes twice as high as other youth. For decades clinicians in mostly urban centers with large Hispanic populations witnessed the puzzling phenomenon of young Latinas who had attempted suicide. It was not until the 1990s when national surveys confirmed what clinicians were seeing in their practices. But the mystery of why some Latinas attempted when other Latinas with similar social and psychological profiles did not remained. Through the retelling of the history of research into this life-threatening act and the many factors that contribute it, this book begins to unravel the mystery of suicide attempts by young Latinas. Beginning with a description of the U.S. Hispanic population and the characteristics of the Hispanic family—its values, beliefs, norms, child-rearing—the book goes on to look at the development of young Latinas, girls straddling two cultures and struggling to reconcile them. Drawing on developmental, cultural and family psychology, acculturation and immigration theory and research, and the traditional and modern socialization of U.S. Hispanic girls, the book sets the stage for an in-depth look at the suicide attempts by Latinas. The book presents case studies and data collected from over 120 girls who attempted suicide and more than 110 who had not. It illustrates with the girls’ own words, and those of their parents, how social, psychological, family and cultural factors come together to a flashpoint. This book presents the anatomy of the experiences before, during and after the suicide attempt, suggests new ways of understanding suicide attempts, and offers ideas for prevention and treatment to save young Latinas.