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Abstract
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A review of research on suicidal behavior published in 1998 revealed very few interesting or novel findings. The most interesting papers were Goldney on tipping points in suicide rates and Tullis on the possibility of suicide addiction.
From 1897 (the date of publication of Durkheim's book on suicide) until 1997, I read every article in English on suicidal behavior. I had many boxes of 3.5 index cards, one for each article, chapter and book. I used every abstracting service available to locate these scholarly works. I reviewed the research in four books called Why People Kill Themselves, published by Charles Thomas.
At that point, the volume of scholarly work on suicidal behavior was too great. Locating and reviewing the articles was taking up too much of my time (I did have a full-time job as a professor), and so I stopped. One hundred years seemed like a great achievement.
No-one took up this task. Of course, reviews of selected topics appeared, but no comprehensive review. I am now retired, and hence this is an attempt to do a reasonably thorough review, although it will not be comprehensive. I do not have access to all the abstracting services that existed in the 20th Century. Furthermore, articles in the predatory journals (those that developed to help scholars publish their work for a fee) are not typically included in the abstracting services. Therefore, many, possibly important, ideas are difficult to locate.
This review is for scholarly research published in 1998. 2 To indicate where I searched, here is a list of the abstracting services used.
Language: en |