Citation

Corriveau P, Perreault I, Cauchie JF, Lyonnais A. Rev. Hist. Am. Fr. 2016; 69(4): 71-86.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Institut d'histoire de l'Amérique française)

DOI

10.7202/1036515ar

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This research note focuses on the creation of a database that will eventually include all 20 000 coroners' inquests conducted in Quebec from the British Conquest (1763) to 1986 that have returned a verdict of death by suicide. With its invaluable material ranging from medical records, witness statements from relatives and diverse professionals, coroner and jury verdicts to farewell letters, the relevance of this database will not be limited to epidemiological analyses. It will also facilitate a better understanding of the evolution of social discourses on suicidal gestures and will shed some light, through their own words, on the lives of those who chose to put an end to their existence. The note also addresses the fact that the creation and use of such a database does not come without its share of thorny epistemological and methodological dilemmas.

Language: en