From Public Culture to Personal Worth: A Sociological Inquiry into the Cultural Roots of Suicide

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In this article, I think through the role of culture in making individuals vulnerable to suicide. I examine the relationship between public culture – embedded in and (re)produced through social institutions – and declarative and nondeclarative personal culture, as well as circumstances under which this relationship can engender suicidal distress. Orders of worth, dominant within public culture and integrated by individuals, are argued to influence individuals’ sense of purpose and to shape their agency and future orientation. Some individuals durably and experientially embody nondeclarative personal culture – dispositions and associations – that differ drastically from their learnt declarative orders of worth, leading to feelings of unworthiness. This mismatch may intensify into the hysteresis effect, where individuals lose their belief in a meaningful future, rendering suicide seem like a possible escape from an eternal present devoid of future prospects. Although this article focuses on suicide, its relevance extends to broader discussions within the sociology of mental health, particularly regarding how public culture and institutions shape individuals’ aspirations, experiences, and consequently, their suffering.