“I want to die” “Let’s do it together”: A symbolic interactionist approach to the phenomenon of internet suicide pacts

• Main Authors: Yun-ruei Lin, 林筠芮
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/36620262224061879911

碩士 === 慈濟大學 === 傳播學系碩士班 === 99 === According to the World Health Organization, the areas with a suicide fatality higher than 13 per 100,000 populations are considered high suicide risk areas. From 1997 to 2009, suicide was among the top-ten causes of death in Taiwan. In 2009, suicide mortality rate reached 17.6 per 100,000 populations, which meant Taiwan was among the high suicide risk nations. Over the years, in addition to the rise of suicide rate all over the world, a parallel phenomenon is the change in suicide type. In March 2005, the first internet suicide pact appeared in Taiwan. Those who joined the pact didn’t know each other, the internet serves as a platform for strangers with suicide intention to form into companies. Those with suicide attempt exchanged experiences and ideas, which precipitated suicide act that might not happen otherwise. This study approaches the internet suicide pacts from the perspective of symbolic interactionism, seeing interactions on the suicide message boards as small group communications; through interactions, group members construct the shared meaning of suicide, and act accordingly. Based on theories of symbolic interactionism, this study constructs a set of assumptions and use it as a framework to analyze the contents of Japan’s 2ch2 suicide message board. The essence of the study is to understand the significations of communication on the suicide message boards. The study conceives internet suicide message board as a bounded meaning construction site, formed by interactions via the use of gestures, significant symbols, role takings, generalized other and exact interactive rules. More practically, the internet also provides participants with suicide-related knowledge and empathic experience which may enhance suicide attempters’ motivation.