Unrealized goals of gender as a factor contributing to the risk of suicidal behavior: historical-cultural analysis of phenomena

Šiame straipsnyje atliekamu tyrimu bandoma nustatyti supančios socialinės-kultūrinės aplinkos veiksnių ir asmens lyties įtaką suicidiniam elgesiui. Remiantis istorine suicidinio elgesio statistika, rašytiniais socialinės istorijos šaltiniais, psichologine ir antropologine literatūra, apibūdinami vyrų ir moterų suicidinio elgesio dėsningumai skirtingų – Vakarų ir Rytų (islamo) – kultūrų pagrindu susiformavusiose visuomenėse.About 900 people are committing suicide annually in Lithuania, which is why in 2014, Lithuania by the average number of suicides per 100.000 population exceeded three times the European Union average. The aforementioned studies show that men are the most exposed group to suicide. In 2014 male suicide rates made up 83% of all suicides in Lithuania. Although suicide and attempted suicide practices can be clearly linked to specific gender-based and psychological research evaluating the phenomenon from this position, it is believed that the relationship between the most common social, cultural phenomena, gender, and suicidal behavior is still not clearly understood. Assuming that the societies of 19th–20th centuries have certain similarities to modern society, in this research, based on historical statistics of suicidal behavior, written sources of social history, psychological and anthropological literature, was tried to characterize the patterns of suicidal behavior of men and women in different societies formed on the basis of the West and East (Islamic) cultures. The research result shows that the comparison of suicide behavior in western and eastern (Islamic) societies confirmed the significant relationships between sociocultural context, gender, and attempted suicide. Due to these factors, individuals who cannot fulfil the objectives of gender in the certain society fall into the risk group of suicidal behavior. In the Western society, it is more often men and in the Eastern societies – women