"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden
Background. Suicide is a widespread problem among indigenous people residing in the circumpolar Arctic. Though the situation among the indigenous Sami in northern Scandinavia is better than among some other indigenous people, suicide is still regarded as a major public health issue. To adapt prevent...
Published in: | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi
2015
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-117422 https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 |
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-117422 2023-10-09T21:49:19+02:00 "We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden Stoor, Jon Petter A. Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Salander Renberg, Ellinor Silviken, Anne 2015 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-117422 https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi Umeå universitet, Psykiatri International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 1239-9736, 2015, 74, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-117422 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 PMID 26333721 ISI:000369582100004 Scopus 2-s2.0-84940947041 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Public Health Global Health Social Medicine and Epidemiology Folkhälsovetenskap global hälsa socialmedicin och epidemiologi Psychiatry Psykiatri Psychology Psykologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2015 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 2023-09-22T13:58:27Z Background. Suicide is a widespread problem among indigenous people residing in the circumpolar Arctic. Though the situation among the indigenous Sami in northern Scandinavia is better than among some other indigenous people, suicide is still regarded as a major public health issue. To adapt prevention strategies that are culturally attuned one must understand how suicide is understood within context. That is, the cultural meaning(s) of suicide. Objective. To explore and make sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among Sami in Sweden. Design. Open-ended focus group discussions (FGDs) on the topic "suicide among Sami'' were carried out in 5 Sami communities in Sweden, with in total 22 strategically selected Sami participants. FGDs were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed through employing content analysis. Results. From the FGDs 4 themes emerged including "The Sami are fighting for their culture and the herders are in the middle of the fight,'' "Suicide as a consequence of Sami losing (or having lost) their identity,'' "A wildfire in the Sami world'' and "Difficult to get help as a Sami.'' Conclusions. Findings indicate that Sami in Sweden make sense of suicide in relation to power and identity within a threatened Sami cultural context. Suicide is then understood as an act that takes place and makes sense to others when a Sami no longer has the power to maintain a Sami identity, resulting in being disconnected from the Sami world and placed in an existential void where suicide is a solution. The findings are useful in development of culturally attuned suicide prevention among Sami in Sweden. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health sami sami Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic International Journal of Circumpolar Health 74 1 27669 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Public Health Global Health Social Medicine and Epidemiology Folkhälsovetenskap global hälsa socialmedicin och epidemiologi Psychiatry Psykiatri Psychology Psykologi |
spellingShingle |
Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Public Health Global Health Social Medicine and Epidemiology Folkhälsovetenskap global hälsa socialmedicin och epidemiologi Psychiatry Psykiatri Psychology Psykologi Stoor, Jon Petter A. Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Salander Renberg, Ellinor Silviken, Anne "We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
topic_facet |
Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Public Health Global Health Social Medicine and Epidemiology Folkhälsovetenskap global hälsa socialmedicin och epidemiologi Psychiatry Psykiatri Psychology Psykologi |
description |
Background. Suicide is a widespread problem among indigenous people residing in the circumpolar Arctic. Though the situation among the indigenous Sami in northern Scandinavia is better than among some other indigenous people, suicide is still regarded as a major public health issue. To adapt prevention strategies that are culturally attuned one must understand how suicide is understood within context. That is, the cultural meaning(s) of suicide. Objective. To explore and make sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among Sami in Sweden. Design. Open-ended focus group discussions (FGDs) on the topic "suicide among Sami'' were carried out in 5 Sami communities in Sweden, with in total 22 strategically selected Sami participants. FGDs were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed through employing content analysis. Results. From the FGDs 4 themes emerged including "The Sami are fighting for their culture and the herders are in the middle of the fight,'' "Suicide as a consequence of Sami losing (or having lost) their identity,'' "A wildfire in the Sami world'' and "Difficult to get help as a Sami.'' Conclusions. Findings indicate that Sami in Sweden make sense of suicide in relation to power and identity within a threatened Sami cultural context. Suicide is then understood as an act that takes place and makes sense to others when a Sami no longer has the power to maintain a Sami identity, resulting in being disconnected from the Sami world and placed in an existential void where suicide is a solution. The findings are useful in development of culturally attuned suicide prevention among Sami in Sweden. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stoor, Jon Petter A. Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Salander Renberg, Ellinor Silviken, Anne |
author_facet |
Stoor, Jon Petter A. Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Salander Renberg, Ellinor Silviken, Anne |
author_sort |
Stoor, Jon Petter A. |
title |
"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
title_short |
"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
title_full |
"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
title_fullStr |
"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
"We are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
title_sort |
"we are like lemmings'' : making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous sami in sweden |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-117422 https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health sami sami |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health sami sami |
op_relation |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 1239-9736, 2015, 74, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-117422 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 PMID 26333721 ISI:000369582100004 Scopus 2-s2.0-84940947041 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
74 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
27669 |
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1779312333751844864 |