‘‘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...
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2015
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8734 https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/8734 2023-05-15T15:13:25+02:00 ‘‘We are like lemmings’’: making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden Stoor, Jon Petter Anders Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Renberg, Ellinor Salander Silviken, Anne 2015-09-01 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8734 https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 eng eng Co-Action Publishing Stoor, J.P.A. (2020). Suicide among Sámi – Cultural meanings of suicide and interventions for suicide prevention in Nordic parts of Sápmi. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19912 . International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2015, 74: 27669 FRIDAID 1313811 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 1239-9736 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8734 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8301 openAccess VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Samfunnsmedisin sosialmedisin: 801 VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Community medicine Social medicine: 801 Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2015 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 2021-06-25T17:54:39Z 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 University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic International Journal of Circumpolar Health 74 1 27669 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Samfunnsmedisin sosialmedisin: 801 VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Community medicine Social medicine: 801 Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Samfunnsmedisin sosialmedisin: 801 VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Community medicine Social medicine: 801 Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study Stoor, Jon Petter Anders Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Renberg, Ellinor Salander Silviken, Anne ‘‘We are like lemmings’’: making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden |
topic_facet |
VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Samfunnsmedisin sosialmedisin: 801 VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Community medicine Social medicine: 801 Sami suicide indigenous identity Sweden qualitative study |
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 Anders Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Renberg, Ellinor Salander Silviken, Anne |
author_facet |
Stoor, Jon Petter Anders Kaiser, Niclas Jacobsson, Lars Renberg, Ellinor Salander Silviken, Anne |
author_sort |
Stoor, Jon Petter Anders |
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 |
Co-Action Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8734 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 |
Stoor, J.P.A. (2020). Suicide among Sámi – Cultural meanings of suicide and interventions for suicide prevention in Nordic parts of Sápmi. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19912 . International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2015, 74: 27669 FRIDAID 1313811 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.27669 1239-9736 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8734 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8301 |
op_rights |
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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1766343977296986112 |