RUNNING HEAD: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SUICIDE 1
Da’Sia L. Blackmon
Domestic Violence and Suicide
Ball State University
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Suicide and Domestic Violence are two very prevalent issues that has taken a major
course in within society. There is an urge to establish different agencies, therapy, and
intervention programs to help cease the frequencies of these issues. Typically, domestic violence
cases can be correlated to suicide situations, due to the extremity of the circumstance that the
person is facing. Suicide and Domestic Violence situations are likely to occur due to lack of
resources and isolation. In the case, social workers use effective problem-solving and advocating
skills, as well as to educate and bring awareness to rural community members about the risk-
factors, precautionary measures, and community alliance that are effective in combating suicide
and domestic violence in rural communities.
In today’s society there are many people who come to the fatal decision of taking or
attempting to take their own life. Many of these acts stem from abusive situations that partners
have faced within their lives and also within their relationships. The act of intentionally killing
oneself is called suicide, while the state of being extremely unhappy or depressed and likely to
commit suicide is referred to as suicidal. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and it is
estimated that a million people die by suicide, worldwide, each year (Windfuhr & Kapur, 2014).
Suicide is also the third leading cause of death in US youth after accidental death and homicide
(Center for Disease Control, 2010). It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1.2 million people
worldwide die by suicide each year (Anderson & Jenkins, 2005). Surprisingly, suicide in
domestic relationships occur because many partners become abusive, they try to leave, financial
issues, or they feel that it is the only way out.
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Majority of domestic suicide cases stem rape, abuse, molestation and depression. If
women were able to access some sort of police alert while they’re going through an abusive
situation, or even able to have any kind of resource to help assure their safety, these issues would
be less likely to occur. Up to this point, researchers have uncovered the complexities of this type
of interpersonal violence and brought to light “that women are much more likely to be harmed
inside an intimate partner relationship than by a stranger” (Schwartz, 2000, p. 9). Most domestic
violence cases start within the home and could escalate further outdoors. Men usually result to
domestic violence due to stress and because they are less likely to get caught.
Families with minor children tend to experience a great deal of chronic turmoil and
stressors such as marital separation, trouble with the law, or domestic violence prior to the
suicide of a parent (Cerel, Fristad, Weller, & Weller, 2000; Shepherd & Barraclough, 1976). A
suicidal death could result in many different outcomes of a family. For example, the suicide of a
family member could tear the family apart, or actually bring the family closer, depending on who
the person is. Losing a family member to suicide could really tear a family apart because
everyone grieves differently, and this could cause a lot of difficulties in the family’s lives.
There are many different groups of people that outweigh one another when it comes to
suicide. In 2001, 24,672 Males and 5,950 females committed suicide. African American people
are more likely to commit suicide than Caucasian people. This population does benefit from the
social work assistance because when they receive help, they are less likely to try to commit
suicide or even think about taking their own lives. Abusive relationships are very dominant in
the minority population. Workers enlighten people of their own worth and helps them to be able
to discuss their own problems and try to help them find any solution to fix things rather than
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taking their own life. Suicide is a major issue that is growing rapidly in today’s society. There
are many different organizations and hotlines that have been created for the purpose of suicide
prevention. One of the first services that helps prevent people from committing suicide is a
suicide hotline. A suicide hotline is a hotline that provides immediate counselling, by people
trained in the suicide field, to people who are contemplating suicide. The first suicide hotline
ever was established in the United Kingdom by Reverend Chad Varah. The inspiration of this
hotline idea was because of a young child’s suicide, which was done because no one listened to
her. Since then, many other people in the United States have formed suicide prevention hotlines
to allow people to talk about whatever it is that they are going through and is causing them to
want to commit suicide. Suicide prevention hotlines have been available to people in the United
