Differences Between Blacks and Whites, Women and Men, in Reasons for Living

Abstract

Most research has shown that there are race differences in suicide rates (deCatanzaro, 1981), with Blacks being about half as likely to die by suicide as Whites (4.6 versus 11.3 per 100,000, annually). Among teenagers, a particularly high-risk group, there was a ratio of nearly one non-White suicide to two White suicides in 1981 (National Center for Health Statistics, 1984). There are also gender differences in suicide rates. Depending on age, the suicide rate for women in the United States is one-eighth to one-third that of men (McGinnis, 1987). The ratio of suicides by 20 to 24 year old men and women was nearly 5:1 in 1980 (Mercy, Tolsma, Smith, & Conn, 1984). The majority of research in the field of suicide has been directed at identifying maladaptive characteristics of suicidal persons. Adaptive, life-maintaining characteristics may be just as importantthey prevent suicide -but have received little research attention. There are also theoretical and clinical reasons for focusing on adaptive characteristics. From a theoretical perspective, Des Pres (1976) and Frankl (1959) independently proposed a model to investigate adaptive, life-maintaining characteristics in their studies of the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. From a clinical perspective, for every person who commits suicide when faced with realistically difficult problems, there are many others who find