CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 298Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthSuicide and Self-Harm StudiesDeath, Funerary Practices, and Mourning

Do Suicide Survivors Suffer Social Stigma: A Review of the Literature

Open access
Cvinar, Jacqueline G.·2005·Perspectives In Psychiatric Care
DOI 10.1111/j.0031-5990.2005.00004.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

One of the delineating elements found in suicide bereavement versus normal bereavement is the stigma experienced by survivors. This review of the literature will provide insight into stigma as an underlying element in suicide bereavement and point to the role of health professionals in dealing with this complex issue. Historical review and empirical studies are analyzed to provide a framework for how suicide relates to natural bereavement. The conclusion is that suicide bereavement is different from natural loss. The challenge to health care providers is to sort through the complex issues surrounding the individual and their social network to find mechanisms that lead to resolution. Suicide has a profound effect on the family, friends, and associates of the victim that transcends the immediate loss. As those close to the victim suffer through bereavement, a variety of reactions and coping mechanisms are engaged as each individual sorts through individual reactions to the difficult loss. Bereavement refers to "all the physiological, psychological, behavioral, and social response patterns displayed by an individual following the loss (usually through death) of a significant person or thing" (Dunne, Dunne-Maxim & McIntosh, 1987). Bereavement following suicide is complicated by the complex psychological impact of the act on those close to the victim. It is further complicated by the societal perception that the act of suicide is a failure by the victim and the family to deal with some emotional issue and ultimately society affixes blame for the loss on the survivors. This individual or societal stigma introduces a unique stress on the bereavement process that in some cases requires clinical intervention.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.0031-5990.2005.00004.x

Cites

15 of 15 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Previous qualitative studies of the experience of suicide bereavement have identified strong perceptions of stigma, the characteristics of which differ according to cultural settings.

    “Previous qualitative studies of the experience of suicide bereavement have identified strong perceptions of stigma, the characteristics of which differ according to cultural settings (Cvinar, 2005, Hanschmidt et al., 2016).”

    From The stigma associated with bereavement by suicide and other sudden deaths: A qualitative interview study (2018) · cites this paper as Cvinar, 2005

    In “Suicide Bereavement is Different” (page unavailable), Cvinar describes interviews in which bereaved people felt marked by stigma. The review also discusses qualitative findings of stigma, but the passages do not establish that its characteristics differ across cultural settings; a reference to society being culturally ill-prepared is not a comparison between settings. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Existing reviews on stigma associated with suicide survivors used non-systematic modes of data collection, limiting conclusions.

    “While few existing reviews have focused on stigma associated with suicide survivors [12,13], non-systematic modes of data collection limit conclusions and several new studies have been published since the publication date of the most recent review in 2008.”

    From The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

    Cvinar’s paper is a review focused on stigma among suicide survivors. The Literature Review and Discussion describe weak study designs and poorly defined or indirect data-collection methods in the underlying studies, which limit conclusions. They do not establish that existing reviews themselves used non-systematic data-collection methods. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The interview topic guide was based on published research and policy literature and suggestions of an advisory group of young bereaved adults and bereavement counsellors.

    “This was based on the published research and policy literature (Cvinar, 2005, Public Health England & National Suicide Prevention Alliance, 2015, Sveen and Walby, 2008), and the suggestions of an advisory group of young bereaved adults and bereavement counsellors.”

    From The stigma associated with bereavement by suicide and other sudden deaths: A qualitative interview study (2018) · cites this paper as Cvinar, 2005

  • Social stigma attached to suicide survivors may greatly complicate the grieving process after suicide.

    “Another factor that characterizes suicide bereavement and that may greatly complicate the grieving process after suicide is the social stigma attached to suicide survivors [7,10–13].”

    From The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

  • Several new studies on suicide survivor stigma have been published since the most recent review in 2008.

    “While few existing reviews have focused on stigma associated with suicide survivors [12,13], non-systematic modes of data collection limit conclusions and several new studies have been published since the publication date of the most recent review in 2008.”

    From The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Hoff, L.A. (2001). People in crisis: clinical and public health perspectives (5th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  2. Toynbee, A. (1969). Man's concern with death. New York: McGraw- Hill. (Original work published 1968).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Cvinar, J. G.
Affiliations
University of Massachusetts Lowell (US)
Corresponding author
Cvinar, Jacqueline G.
Venue
Perspectives In Psychiatric Care
Publisher
Hindawi Limited
Published
2005-01
Volume
41
Issue
1
Pages
14-21
ISSN
  • 0031-5990 (ISSN-L)
  • 1744-6163
DOI
10.1111/j.0031-5990.2005.00004.x
OpenAlex
W2042405163
Cited by
298
References
15
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 15
FWCI
8.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 3895 d)
Locations
  • Perspectives In Psychiatric Care (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
Keywords
suicide bereavement, suicide survivors, social stigma, grief, coping strategies, healthcare workers, family impact of suicide, bereavement interventions
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Health, Avoidance Learning, Family, Grief, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Prejudice, Psychiatric Nursing, Social Support, Social Values, Stereotyping, Stress, Psychological, Suicide, Survivors, Nurse's Role, Friends

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review