Cultural Research in Suicidology: Challenges and Opportunities

Cultural research in suicidology is crucial in order to develop our understanding of the meanings of suicidal behaviour in different cultural contexts. In this essay, I will first elaborate why it is important to focus on cultural issues in suicidological research and thereafter discuss what it actually means to have a cultural focus/perspective on the research. Then I discuss some of the challenges, as well as opportunities, faced in cultural suicidological research. The main focus is, however, on challenges and these are conceptual, theoretical, methodological, ethical and political in nature. In the literature we meet a confusing mix of concepts, for instance, transcultural, cross-cultural, inter-cultural or simply just cultural. Each of these concepts has numerous different definitions; sometimes used interchangeably, other times carrying different meanings. A central question is also: What is culture? An important methodological question is: Is culture a measurable variable? My answer to this question is no, and then the next important question is: How can we then study (trans/cross/inter)cultural aspects of suicidal behaviour? Here I will propose using qualitative methodology in order to be able to analyse the cultural contributions to suicidal behaviour. The need for theoretical frameworks is also discussed. Examples of ethical and political challenges are, among others, negative attitudes towards cultural research and qualitative methodology, the increased focus on biological research, as well as some challenges faced when researchers from different cultural contexts collaborate. Although cultural suicidological research in general is emphasised throughout, I also discuss challenges particularly relevant for research in low and middle income countries and/or among minority groups in high income countries. Copyrights belong to the Author(s). Suicidology Online (SOL) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal published under the Creative Commons License 3.0.