Strain, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts among maltreated adolescents in the United States.

Almost one-fourth of maltreated adolescents report they have thought about killing themselves in the last two weeks. We draw on Agnew's strain theory to develop a model to account for variability in suicidal thoughts among this high-risk group. We used data from a nationally representative sample of 572 maltreated adolescents, aged 11-15. One dimension of relational strain (poorer relationship with peers) and greater depressed mood were directly related to whether adolescents did or did not think about suicide. Depressed mood mediated the relationship between two strain variables (relationship with caregiver and with school) and suicidal thoughts. Child maltreatment strain (being severely harmed) and substance use were not directly related to suicidal thoughts; however, depressed mood appeared to mediate the relationship between drug use and suicidal thoughts. Adolescents who experience child maltreatment and who appear to be disconnected from caregivers, friends and school should be screened for depression and suicidal thoughts.

"The Great Transformation" and suicide: local and long-lasting effects of 1930 bank suspensions.

Depression-era bank suspensions and failures are conceptualized as products of the first part of what Polanyi (1994) called "The Great Transformation," which involved an imbalanced institutional arrangement in which the economy dominated other institutions. Relying on Durkheim (1897/1951) and Merton (1938, 1968), it is argued that these banking problems accentuated the type of chronic anomie that Durkheim theorized would create normative deregulation and elevated suicide rates over the long-term. Results from county-level analyses are supportive as the 1930 bank suspension rate is positively related to the 2000 suicide rate, controlling for contemporary and historical factors. The mediating roles of integration and chronic anomie are considered, with the latter measured using data from the geocoded General Social Survey.

The "dark side" of the strength of weak ties: the diffusion of suicidal thoughts.

Granovetter's theory on the strength of weak ties motivates hypotheses on the difusive nature of suicidal thoughts in the friendship networks of adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the effects of friends-of-friends attempting suicide on the suicidal thoughts of respondents are estimated. A focus on friends-of-friends permits a test of the weak-ties thesis because respondents are indirectly linked to friends-of-friends by "open ties" that are both structurally weak and used as bridges. Results for "at-risk" respondents--or those with certain behaviors, statuses, and experiences that create psychological predispositions to suicide-are consistent with Granovetter's theory and thus reveal the "dark side" of the strength of weak ties as at-risk respondents are more likely to seriously think about committing suicide when a friend-of-a-friend attempts suicide, controlling for past suicidal thoughts by the respondent and attempts by friends, family, and students in the respondent's school, among other control factors. Barriers to diffusion are also considered.

An extension and test of Sutherland's concept of differential social organization: the geographic clustering of Japanese suicide and homicide rates.

In an effort to explain the spatial patterning of violence, we expanded Sutherland's (1947) concept of differential social organization to include the level of deviance exhibited by neighboring areas. To test the value of this extension, the geographic clustering of Japanese suicide and homicide rates is assessed using 1985 and 1995 data for prefectures. Univariate results show that both types of violence cluster significantly in space. Inconsistent with the proposed expansion of differential social organization, multivariate results show that proximity to homicide does not increase the risk of homicide in Japan. Results for suicide are supportive and suggest that proximity to higher rates of suicide exposes residents to cultural values that support suicide and to role models who have committed suicide.