9 Lives Lost, Voices Unheard: Examining the Importance of Youth-Led Research Amidst One Community’s Adult-Centered Responses to Youth Suicides

Abstract

Suicide is often framed as an individual problem with dominant explanations for suicides stemming from psychology and biology. However, sociologist Émile Durkheim long ago argued that suicide and mental health are intimately connected with communities and social experiences. This chapter examines a recent youth suicide crisis, where there was significant outpouring of support in the community, and many adult-centered attempts to deal with losing young people to suicide, but few actually attempted to actively engage young people. The chapter reviews four community research initiatives conducted during and after the suicide crisis, including an overview of the author’s own participatory action research that allowed young people to guide the entire process and develop the tools to better understand and help their peers in the community.