Article ID: CBB997404519

“I’m at My Rope’s End”: Suicide in New Orleans, 1920–1940 (2021)

unapi

For over a century, researchers have argued that suicide in the United States fluctuates with business cycles, rising during downturns, when “deaths of despair” skyrocket, and falling during flush periods. Using case-level data from autopsy reports and suicide notes, this essay analyzes suicide trends in New Orleans between 1920 and 1940, an era that included immense prosperity and the Great Depression. Thus, the essay draws from quantitative and qualitative evidence to revisit the leading explanation for suicide patterns. It concludes that only a small segment of the population experienced surges and contractions in response to economic forces. For other New Orleanians, different stressors, relating to class-, race-, and gender-based expectations, shaped suicidal behavior. Firearm availability and public health conditions also influenced suicide patterns. Counterintuitively, suicide rates soared in good times and plummeted in bad times.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB997404519/

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Authors & Contributors
Malin, Brenton J.
Parnas, Josef
Hermanson, Sean
Hatton, Timothy J.
Davies, William
James Nikopoulos
Concepts
Psychology
Emotions; passions
Social sciences
Health
Cognition
Psychiatry
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century, late
19th century
Early modern
Modern
Renaissance
Places
United States
Americas
Japan
Padua (Italy)
England
Wales
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