Native American Youth Suicide Analysis

Within this draft proposal, it is argued that the issue of the unprecedented rise in teenage suicide on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation demands immediate action from the tribal government to help improve life on the reservation and work towards saving the young people of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (and potentially the youth amongst other tribes across the United States). Hopefully with this draft proposal, officials in charge of the Oglala Sioux Tribe can use these recommendations to work towards fixing the many issues on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that has contributed to the unprecedented rise of teenage suicide. First and foremost, the economic system within the reservation needs immediate reformation and further development to combat

The social issue that I would like to address as a social worker is the epidemic of indigenous youth suicide in Canada. On the macro level, I believe this issue can be understood through two fundamental components: the residual effects of colonization trauma passed through generations and the effects of current colonial-based, neo-liberal institutional actions on indigenous youth.

Paige and Alex are recent cases of two Indigenous youth dying while in care. Paige was an Aboriginal girl who was treated with professional indifference and in return led to her death (Representative of Children and Youth (RYC), 2015). “Paige’s story reveals the massive gap between our understanding of the effects of trauma and the systems at the front line” (RYC, 2015, p.9). The CFCSA was not used by professionals in this case, where social workers and MCFD mishandled her file and failed to adequately assess risk to her as a young child. This can also be seen in the case of Alex, where another Aboriginal child in care lost his life. The constant “effects of early and continual trauma in Alex’s life due to abuse, instability, and constantly

This educational goal would be divided up between Lake County & local schools, CSKT, NA cultural community and elders, and the development of a health maintenance and grief resource center in the local community. The Montana Native Youth Suicide Reduction Strategic Plan of January 2017 is a statewide tribal coalition with the goal of reducing the suicidal incidence in this population (dphhs.mt.gov). This coalition will be mirrored in Lake County and is only the start to combat NA adolescent suicide. The strategy would entail utilizing as many individuals/volunteers within the county’s mental health personnel, public health nursing realm, local nutritionists, volunteers in the “no one dies alone” program, and any additional individuals from local churches, community and schools to create a diabetes, suicide and mental health stability education

Ford-Paz and her researchers begin this article by establishing their belief that youth suicide in Latino communities is a large problem. It is stated that suicide and depression are even larger issues for Latinos than they are for other communities. Ford-Paz and her colleagues follow this up by stating the many reasons they believe it is an issue, and why it worse for Latinos. The introduction section of the article is ended by stating the three aims of the study; To obtain insight into the limitations of current preven programs and strategies, to identify social cultural factors affecting teen Latino suicide rates and finally to create ideas on how to prevent teen Latino suicide. The next sub-heading is titled methods and describes how Ford-Paz and her follow researchers conducted their study. The researchers used a community-based participatory research basis to perform their study. Over the course of 11 months they studied and researched the Latino community of Chicago, Illinois. Ford-Paz now moves onto how the research was conducted and how they choose participants. Ford-Paz and her colleagues used focus groups heavily to assist in their research. Finally the results are stated and discussed. The study found three important themes to help preventing Latino suicide. The article ends with a discussion of the results,

American Indians have the highest suicide rates in Montana and make up 7% of the population (Uken, 2012, p. 3). The high unemployment and substance abuse is shown to be a major factor (Uken, 2012, p. 3).There is a shortage of employment all over Montana, not just pertaining to the reservations. This shortage and not having enough mental healthcare professionals to cover all of the small towns in Montana, limits people being seen and treated (Uken, 2012, p.4,para.6).

Aboriginal people represent less than 3% of the total population in BC. Yet, they account for more than 9% of all suicides in BC (Chandler). The numbers of suicides amongst aboriginal youth are even more alarming – nearly one-fourth of all youth suicides in BC are committed by aboriginals and more than half of all aboriginal suicides are committed by youth (Chandler). The fact that indigenous communities in Canada have the highest rate of suicide of any culturally identifiable group in the world implies that these alarming statistics may not solely be a result of aboriginal communities belonging to a minority cultural group. I will attempt to build a speculative hypothesis behind the significantly high suicide rates amongst aboriginal

In addition, the program offered healing to the community still healing from the legacy of colonialism. If the federal government kept funding the suicide prevention program there would not have been a spike in suicide rates in the community. Furthermore, a psychologist at the University of Victoria, Christopher Lalonde, believes the key to stopping suicides is rooted in the communities (McCue, 2016). From two decades of researching, he found that the communities that are the least “culturally healthy” have a higher rate of youth suicide (McCue, 2016). Also, the mental wellness of aboriginal youths is not only about being mentally healthy but also having a balance between Aboriginal youths’ families, communities, and the environment (Khan, 2008). Therefore, it will be better that Aboriginal suicide prevention programs are created by Aboriginal communities to target the prevalence issues in their communities with some assistance from the government to set it up and fund

Native Americans have been neglected, abused, and tormented since the 1700’s when their land was abruptly invaded by Europeans. Europeans declared this “unknown” territory to be their property from then forward and did anything and everything to make sure this would happen. This included forced assimilation, where Natives were stripped of their cultural traditions and forced to assimilate to an english speaking, westernized culture (McLeigh, 2010). This included taking children from their families and sending them to boarding school to learn a new language, new cultural traditions, and new religious practices. Starting in 1860 and lasting until 1970, children were taken from their families at a young age and often lost touch with their family

Seeing that youth suicide rates amongst Aboriginal youth are five to seven times higher than non-Aboriginal youth, and Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average, there are several contributing attributes that should be further researched. (Health Canada, 2013) One of the contributing factors that are discussed in many Aboriginal courses is that of identity. Aboriginal youth who face high levels of intergenerational trauma due to the RS system often find themselves distanced from Aboriginal culture, without their mother tongue, and western culture. This alongside the negative portrayals of Indigenous peoples within media many times go much deeper to factors beyond an individual 's control and end up as a common root cause of suicide. One way for the federal government can combat this particular factor is through the emplacement of acknowledgment initiatives. Trying to reduce negative stigmas and stereotypes as well, to educate, can help promote healthy self-esteem and confidence levels within Aboriginal youth and result in the prevention of high suicide levels amongst Aboriginal youth. (CITE)

It is well-known that the health issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been constantly discussed and analysed up to the present. Indigenous Australian experience poorer health outcome compare to other population in Australian, and also they experienced significantly higher rates of mental illness within their communities, and the suicide rate approximately more than double higher than for the general population (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,2009). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the factor that associated with higher rate of mental illness and suicide behavior regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the concept of cultural, social and emotional well-being that triggers this phenomenon.

Native American worldview presents an alternative system of being grounded in reverence towards the elements of nature and cosmos. A close reading of the oral tales, myths, and narratives of Native American childhood often revolve around the motif of mother and child relationship, foreground an idea of childhood characterised by freedom and autonomy. The children in these myths learn from their experiences of quests rather than by the method of indoctrination or instruction. A sense of childhood emerges from these narratives. The childhood is a distinct concept and a stage in individual’s life having its own sets of physical and psychological needs. The paternalistic attitude towards children symptomatic of Puritan childhood that aims at disciplining

This is a critical appraisal of the article A Tool for the Culturally Competent Assessment of Suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) Measure with the purpose of improving my research and critical reading skills.

While suicide is highest among males, suicide attempts are higher among females and youth suicide among males are highest in rural / remote areas. 1 This essay will examine some of the issues of youth suicide. The focus will be to view the underlying factors and the strategies employed to intervene and prevent a potential

Suicide is a universal phenomenon that has deep and extensive implications for the overall wellbeing of a community. Not only is suicide a tragic personal and societal loss, but suicide rates can also serve as an index of underlying societal problems, such as sources of oppression and lack of social support. Exhibiting several interesting suicide trends, China is a country that provides ample opportunity for investigating the problem of suicide and its causes. There are observed Western patterns of urban, male, and mentally ill populations being at greater risk for suicide—trends that are challenged by the reversed patterns of suicide in China, where “youth, female gender, and rural residence are a potentially lethal combination”.1 The