Recently, you might have read about Tsering Kyi, a 20-year-old student who set herself on fire to protest China’s control of Tibet. However, what you might not know is that Kyi’s suicide – and those of 25 other Tibetan protestors – belong to a much larger category of human behavior.

Jason Manning, first-year assistant professor in the West Virginia University Division of Sociology and Anthropology, uses four years of extensive research to explain how and why people in many settings use the act of suicide to punish or to express their disapproval toward another group or individual.

“Suicide can be a way to air grievances against a specific group or individual,” said Manning. “And it’s not limited to political grievances.”

People also resort to suicide when they feel wronged by intimates. For instance, a husband might commit suicide and leave a note blaming his actions on his unfaithful wife, which could evoke emotions of guilt from his wife and perhaps anger from his surviving relatives.

“Suicide is often a way of handling conflict,” Manning said. “Some societies even view it as normal. For example, where women lack the power to end marriages or to defend themselves against abuse, committing suicide is widely viewed as the only reliable way to get back at an abusive husband. But even where it’s not widely accepted, people kill themselves for similar reasons.”

According to Manning, suicide arising from domestic conflict is similar in nature to the suicide of protestors.

“They are both ways of seeking justice, and they arise under similar circumstances,” he said. “My theory predicts those circumstances – it says which grievances are more likely to drive someone to suicide. For instance, unequal relations – one party being more powerful than the other – encourage suicide in all kinds of disputes.”

Although suicide has long been studied by sociologists and anthropologists, there are few theories meant to explain when and why suicide occurs.

“New theories are rare,” Manning said, “especially theories meant to apply to all societies, from simple tribes to the local suburbs. For instance, a lot of youth suicide in the U.S. fits this model.”

The article is featured in Sociological Forum, a peer-reviewed journal and the official publication of the Eastern Sociological Society. The journal, which was first created in 1986, emphasizes articles developing innovative directions in sociological research.

For more information, contact Jason Manning, at 304-293-5801 or jason.manning@mail.wvu.edu

-WVU-

jl/4/4/12

CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Director of Marketing and Communication
304-293-7406, ext. 5251, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.