Social Meanings of Attempted Suicide of Men in Bangladesh

Émile Durkheim’s Le Suicide (1897/2005) paved the way for the development of the sociology of suicide. However, Durkheim’s positivistic approach in studying suicide was trenchantly challenged by, amongst others, Jack Douglas, who, in Social Meanings of Suicide (1968), advocated extricating the social meanings of suicide from the interpretive tradition of social research. Drawing on Douglas’ approach to the sociology of suicide, this paper reports and reflects on part of a study conducted across several rural areas of Jhenaidah, an area in Bangladesh highly affected by suicide, with 17 males who have attempted suicide. The responses of the participants were interpreted with a view to understanding the social meanings associated with their suicide attempts. Although there was a diversity of individual experiences among the participants with regard to suicide attempts, the paper synthesises these and reflects on three themes which most closely represent the commonalities of experience of the 17 men, namely: (i) inability to provide; (ii) intimate relationship stress; and (iii) loss of social status. In conclusion, the paper contributes to understanding suicide attempts by men as social meaningfully events, delineating the roles and complexities associated with constructions of masculine identities.