Psychiatric and Other Contributing Factors in Homicide-Suicide Cases, from Northern Gauteng, South Africa Over a Six-Year Period (original) (raw)
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Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2010
This study investigated homicide-suicide in Durban, South Africa, for the years 2000 to 2001. The incidence was 0.89 per 100,000, higher than the international average. A majority of perpetrators (91%) and victims (87%) were Black African, proportional to their representation in the population. Perpetrators were typically men (in 95% of cases), older than, and intimate partners (in 75% of cases) of the female victims (in 100% of cases). Average ages of perpetrators and victims were 32 and 27, respectively. The security sector was overrepresented as an employment category for perpetrators. A firearm was used in 87% of the homicides and 80% of the suicides. The individuals involved in homicide-suicides in Durban are similar to homicidesuicide perpetrators and victims in industrialized countries. The fact that homicide-suicides in South Africa, as in most countries, involve almost exclusively men killing female intimates confirms the importance of examining and challenging social norms enabling male violence against women.
2021
Background Two young male patients who were diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis committed suicide in a psychiatric hospital in South Africa within a month of each other. The psychiatric nurses working in the hospital had never before had to deal with a similar trauma of suicide cluster. Aim To assess the psychiatric nurses’ experiences of suicide cluster in an inpatient psychiatric setting. Setting A psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Method A qualitative design was used. The research population consisted of psychiatric nurses who were purposively selected. Data were gathered using in-depth interviews where the participants narrated their experiences of the incidents. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data was coded using descriptive and explanatory codes. Trustworthiness was ensured. Ethical principles of justice, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence were ensured. Results An attempt was made to compare the suicides of two patients with the...
Epidemiology of suicide in South Africa: setting an agenda for future research
This article offers a synthesis and critical overview of published studies on the prevalence and correlates of completed suicide in South Africa. It examines the evidence that suicide is a serious public health problem and highlights what remains unknown about suicide in South Africa. Reflections are offered on the implications of these studies for subsequent research. Focus areas are suggested for future research in order to provide the information needed to inform public health efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with suicidal behaviour. This article is of interest to scholars who seek to plan suicide research in South Africa, public health officials who wish to design suicide prevention programmes, and others who wish to gain an overview of the prevalence and correlates of completed suicide in the country.
2013 Epidemiology of suicide in South Africa: Setting an agenda for future research
This article offers a synthesis and critical overview of published studies on the prevalence and correlates of completed suicide in South Africa. It examines the evidence that suicide is a serious public health problem and highlights what remains unknown about suicide in South Africa. Reflections are offered on the implications of these studies for subsequent research. Focus areas are suggested for future research in order to provide the information needed to inform public health efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with suicidal behaviour. This article is of interest to scholars who seek to plan suicide research in South Africa, public health officials who wish to design suicide prevention programmes, and others who wish to gain an overview of the prevalence and correlates of completed suicide in the country.
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Suicide rates worldwide are declining; however, less is known about the patterns and trends in mortality from suicide in sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluates trends in suicide rates and years of potential life lost from death registration data in South Africa from 1997 to 2016. Suicide (X60–X84 and Y87) was coded using the 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Changes in mortality rate trends were analysed using joinpoint regression analysis. The 20-year study examines 8573 suicides in South Africa, comprising 0.1% of all deaths involving persons 15 years and older. Rates of suicide per 100,000 population were 2.07 in men and 0.49 in women. Joinpoint regression analyses showed that, while the overall mortality rate for male suicides remained stable, mortality rates due to hanging and poisoning increased by 3.9% and 3.5% per year, respectively. Female suicide mortality rates increased by 12.6% from 1997 to 2004 before stabilising; while rates due...
Suicide trends in South Africa, 1968-90
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2004
Aims: A study was undertaken to investigate suicide rates and proportional mortality trends in South Africa from 1968 to 1990. Methods: Suicide rates per 100,000 population per year and suicide proportional mortality rates per year were calculated. The analyses were stratified by race, sex, and age group. Trends were interpreted using graphs depicting smoothed sex/race-specific suicide rates and proportional mortality rates over time. Regression models for suicide rates were fitted within specific age groups to test the effects of race, sex, and time. Further analysis was done within the specific age and race groups, if any interaction was found with time. Results: There were increases in suicide rate in the young (particularly for white males) and for whites aged 65 years and above (particularly for males). Conclusions: The finding that suicide among the young and elderly in South Africa is increasing suggests that preventive efforts are indicated, especially for white males. Trends for young South Africans mirror those in Europe and the USA, and attention to trends in these countries may predict future trends in youth suicide in South Africa.
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The Epidemiology of Homicide followed by Suicide: A Systematic and Quantitative Review
This systematic review of population based studies of homicide followed by suicide was conducted to examine the associations between rates of homicidesuicide, rates of other homicides and rates of suicide. The review analysed 64 samples, including the case of an outlier (Greenland) that were reported in 49 studies. There was a significant association between the rates of homicide-suicide and those of other homicides in studies from the U.S.A. Outside the U.S.A. there was no clear association between homicide-suicide and other homicide but there was modest but significant association between rates of suicide and homicidesuicide. Homicide-suicide appears to be closer in epidemiological terms to homicide than suicide in regions with high rates of homicide and measures to reduce homicide in these regions may also reduce homicide-suicide.
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Homicide-suicide is a severe form of interpersonal violence, leading to shock and incomprehension in society at large. This review delineates the present state of knowledge regarding homicide-suicide by addressing the main theoretical underpinnings, the nature and incidence of these acts, the relation with other types of lethal violence and the characteristics of subtypes of homicide-suicide. Based on a review of the literature, several theoretical and empirical shortcomings are addressed from which directions for future research can be derived.