Family Suicide Research Paper

The Impact of Suicide on the Family Julie Cerel1, John R. Jordan2, and Paul R. Duberstein3 1 College of Social Work, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA, 2 The Family Loss Project, Pantucket, RI, USA, 3 University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA Abstract. Little research has examined the consequences of a suicide for social or family networks. Because suicide occurs within families, the focus on the aftermath of suicide within families is an important next step to determine exactly how to help survivors. In this article, we review and summarize the research on the impact of suicide on individuals within families and on family and social networks. We begin with a discussion of family changes following suicide. Next, we discuss the effects
How has the church, criminal justice system, and media helped or hindered survivors? Finally, there is also a pressing need for studies that ask survivors themselves what has been of help, or what they feel would have helped had it been available so that interventions can be designed that strengthen the natural coping efforts of families (Jordan & McMenamy, in press). Recommended Questions for Child Survivors of Suicide in the Family 1. Are there developmental differences in the way suicide has an influence on a child? Is it harder for a child to lose a family member to suicide earlier in development when they cannot understand mental illness and suicide, or later in adolescence after they have developed a relationship with the decedent and may model his or her suicidal behavior as a coping strategy? The overall literature on childhood bereavement is inconclusive on whether early or later loss in childhood is worse (e.g., Cerel, Fristad, Verducci, Weller, & Weller, 2006). Larger studies of child survivors with particular attention to developmental differences will help us understand if systematic differences exist. 2. What happens when child survivors grow up? As