Suicide among Adolescents in Mexico Social Sciences Essay

Suicide among Adolescents in Mexico
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Suicide among Adolescents in Mexico
Suicide, especially among the youths, is a global concern which continues to escalate, making it one of the most common causes of death among the youths. According to Fernández-Niño, et al. (2016), the number of deaths by suicide among Mexican youths doubled in a span of ten years, raising concerns regarding the cause and prevention measures available in Mexico. The fact that the increase in death among the youths is raising concern even among policy-makers is an indication that the issue is not taken lightly. This also illuminates further on how death is perceived in North America, with specific attention to Mexico.
In Mexico, a majority of the people have some level of religious faith and as such, they are well aware of the relationship between religion and death. Mexicans have incorporated religious practices into their social lives (Hoffman &Marsiglia, 2014) and as such, their spirituality affects their view and perception towards death. Catholicism is the dominant faith in Mexico and has been against suicide because the act is against the church’s teaching. Hoffman and Marsiglia (2014) attribute the low number of suicides in Mexico in comparison to other countries to the influence of their religious faith. This indicates that Mexican perception of suicide is highly influenced by their spirituality, which can go further to indicate that a group of people bound by certain religious practices and beliefs will approach death by suicide differently than those who are not believers in any given faith.
In addition, death by suicide is perceived as a way out, especially by individuals who think they are a burden to their loved ones. As noted by Aranda, et al. (2016), Mexican teenagers from a family that has a poor economic background are likely to develop suicidal ideas. Suffering from financial problems also leads to hopelessness among Mexican youths and when they fail to see a successful future, they end up committing suicide as an escape. This is why the study by Aranda, et al. (2016) revealed that adolescent attending public schools were more hopeless and registered a higher tendency of suicidal thoughts than those in private school. While feeling like a burden to one’s family can be a psychological issue, in most cases, it is brought about by socio-economic factors of the family and overall support system. According to Hoffman and Marsiglia (2014), Mexican youths who attend church, regardless of whether they have strong convictions or not, are less likely to feel like they are a burden to their family than those who do not attend church. As such, church attendance reduces the occurrence of suicidal thought among young people. This could be attributed to the messages of hope and belonging that are spread in church or a religious setting, thus reducing the hopelessness that most likely leads to suicidal thoughts or actual suicide. Further, it could be because in most cases,...