Suicide among young blacks: trends and perspectives.

Abstract

A RECENT UPSURGE in suicide by young blacks has prompted growing concern among mental health practitioners and behavioral scientists. As a result, the literature on suicide by blacks has ,grown substantially. Much of this literature concludes that the incidence of suicide, attendant depression, and alcohol and drug abuse among young blacks is, in a word, alarming. The lack of an empirical research tradition in the area of suicide generally, and suicide by blacks particularly, has resulted in a mosaic of theoretical and conceptual explanations. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest a socio-cultural framework for viewing suicide among young blacks, and to show how previous viewpoints frequently are based on "traditional" and sometimes distorted "typical" black psychosocial patterns.