Overview
- Authors:
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Anne Cleary
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UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Considers male and female patterns of suicide across the world and examine similarities and discrepancies
- Provides a fresh, sociological perspective on a major international public health issue
- Offers a rare insight into the life stories and narratives of men who have attempted suicide
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Back Matter
Pages 197-223
About this book
This book is an attempt to understand suicide from the perspective of a group of men who decided to take their own lives. Their stories imply that male suicide is not, as frequently portrayed, an impulsive action arising from particular, sex-specific, causes but relates to a cluster of interlinked issues which accumulate over time. These issues were not distinctively male concerns but were connected to gender in that the men’s difficulties were exacerbated by the existence of an emotional culture which inhibited males from expressing specific feelings. The prevailing form of masculinity impeded them in developing knowledge of, and speaking about, their emotional needs and from accessing help and this prolonged their suffering and made suicide a possibility. These men produced compelling accounts of their emotional pain which belied notions of male inexpressiveness but the findings point to a link between emotionally constraining cultures and suicidal behaviour for some groups of men.
Reviews
“Throughout history and across many cultures, men have been far more likely to take their own lives and in modern society, blue collar, less educated men are especially at risk. In this important new study of men who want to, try to and do commit suicide, the sociologist Anne Cleary discovers underlying feelings of anguish, desperation, and shame. Equally important, she astutely observes that as men they feel obliged to “bravely” cover such feelings from public view. This misplaced notion of male valor, she persuasively argues, has tragically escaped public notice, seen as “just how men are” and foreclosed the possibility of receiving vitally needed help. An important contribution to sociology and a revelatory book for policy-makers, men at risk of their male socialization - and everyone else.” (Professor Arlie R. Hochschild, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
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UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Anne Cleary
About the author
Anne Cleary is a sociologist and Research Fellow in the Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland. Her research focuses on gender, health and wellbeing and has been funded by the Irish Research Council. She is a member of the Fulbright Commission (Ireland) Board and was previously the recipient of a Fulbright Award.
