Intergenerational Ambivalence, Power, and Perceptions of Elder Suicide in Rural Japan

Abstract

This article explores perceptions of elder suicide by older Japanese and contextualizes these perceptions within the theoretical framework of intergenerational ambivalence theory. The examples discussed show how people can use perceptions related to intergenerational relationships and changing social structures and values to create explanatory models for suicidal behavior. In the cases discussed here, high elder suicide rates are seen as a product of conflicting family values and conflicting expectations about how power should be allocated within families. Suicide is one means by which actors negotiate contradictions in the surrounding social environment, contradictions that for many Japanese appear to be consistently evident in the context of multigenerational families where communication and interaction between younger and older generations is perceived as being difficult.