Citation

Bloom M, Halsema J. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1983; 13(3): 195-206.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

6673201

Abstract

This article explores the psychosocial and environmental configurations that might have been responsible for an unusual situation of survival under extreme conditions. A group of 500 civilians (mostly Americans) lived 31/2 years in a Japanese internment camp in the philippines during World War II. Although conditions were very harsh, the survival rate of this group was better than expected for a comparable group under normal conditions. Discussion of available demographic, social organizational, and cultural information leads to three hypotheses that might account for this outcome.