The Impact of Community Structural Instability on Bedoon and Suicidal Behavior in Kuwait
[Article]
Amer Alsaleh
Leiden
Brill
The current study examines the impact of community structural instability on the suicidal behaviors of the indigenous community of the Bedoon in Kuwait. I hypothesize that the Bedoon's lack of documentation and limited opportunities in Kuwait, combined with community structural instability, increase suicide ideation and attempts. The contextual influence of community structural instability should be mediated by weak attachments to social norms and values (anomie) and by contact with suicidal others (attempt and ideation). The data, coming from a survey of 2,583 Bedoon adolescents between 14 and 18 years old, indicate that the community level of residential mobility has a positive, contextual effect on Bedoon suicidal behavior. The findings also indicate that the contextual effect of residential mobility is mediated by both anomie and attempt and ideation and offer the possibility of identifying communities that carry a substantial risk for adolescent suicide as well as the mechanisms that mediate the influence of community structural characteristics on Bedoon adolescent risk behavior. The current study examines the impact of community structural instability on the suicidal behaviors of the indigenous community of the Bedoon in Kuwait. I hypothesize that the Bedoon's lack of documentation and limited opportunities in Kuwait, combined with community structural instability, increase suicide ideation and attempts. The contextual influence of community structural instability should be mediated by weak attachments to social norms and values (anomie) and by contact with suicidal others (attempt and ideation). The data, coming from a survey of 2,583 Bedoon adolescents between 14 and 18 years old, indicate that the community level of residential mobility has a positive, contextual effect on Bedoon suicidal behavior. The findings also indicate that the contextual effect of residential mobility is mediated by both anomie and attempt and ideation and offer the possibility of identifying communities that carry a substantial risk for adolescent suicide as well as the mechanisms that mediate the influence of community structural characteristics on Bedoon adolescent risk behavior.