Dear All, A colleague of mine is researching youth suicide, and wants to discuss the internet as a potential site for support for youth considering suicide. He is particularly concerned with arguing against one study which seemed to uncritically assign blame to "the internet" as a site which provoked and encouraged suicide. He has sent me further details (see below) of this request with a context for his argument and asked me if I could help him out. Unfortunately I haven't explored the literature about this so I was wondering whether anybody on the list might know of any studies I could point my colleague to please? Many thanks, Angela ___________________ I wonder if you could help me out with a reference or two to solid empirical studies that show that people's on-line (virtual?)identity and reports of behaviour may not be an accurate reflection of their off-line (real life?) identity and behaviour? I have included a few paragraphs below to indicate the context of the reference. In brief, some researchers believe that b/c a person posts one or more notes on line to a discussion group saying s/he is going to commit suicide and then goes quiet, that s/he did do so. I think that the absence of further posts from a person with the same screen name is not particularly strong evidence of a completed suicide. ************************ Baume et al (1997) argued: "The plea of Nick W (Im gonna do it any day now really I promise) suggests that he may have felt compelled by his internet participation to follow through with suicide. If it were not for his public commitments he might have been able to adopt a more constructive approach to problem-solving without losing face" (p.77). Our problem with statements like this is that there is no other evidence to justify the authors conclusions, which they appear to accept uncritically. Given recent work on on-line identity, there is even some possibility that Nick W never existed, or that he is alive. Undeterred by these doubts, Baume et al (1997) continue: "It is all too easy for self-destructive individuals to incite others to kill themselves. Hence, the internet has considerable potential for a powerful collective destructive force to develop, impacting on ambivalence in a way that may make suicide more likely" (p.77). That may be so, but it is also the case that the Internet could be a powerful agent in suicide prevention by providing support to people reaching out for help. The weight of argument in Baume et als work however, is on the negative. Second, even if the two cases of suicide Baume et al presented were real, that some people choose to describe their anguish and prospective death on the Internet does not provide evidence that these postings contributed to their deaths, let alone encouraged anyone else to follow suit. The speculation continued: "What is also worth noting in this context is that the individuals who access the internet in general may differ from those who watch more television or videos. These young people seem to be already more vulnerable, with high risk taking behavior, substance abuse, and depression scores than controls [Martin, 1996]. As previously mentioned, the bulk of those who access the internet are 18-24 years of age and this happened to be a group with a high suicide rate, at least in industrialized nations (Baume et al, 1997:78). Baume et al (1997) concluded by stating: Cybersuicide is now a reality and calling for an appreciation of technologically initiated suicides as well as the effect of the Internet on vulnerable populations (p.78). In 1998, they suggested that something might need to be done, though they are not sure, and are vague about what action needed to be taken: "There is a need to consider carefully the special challenges posed by the Internet and, if necessary, to lobby appropriate agencies and government departments for action. In addition, the various State and national bodies concerned with mental health, media regulation and suicide prevention strategies may need to formulate policies to counter the negative influences of the Internet" (p.140). _______________________________________________________ Angela Thomas Lecturer in English Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work University of Sydney Phone: +61 2 9351 6229, Fax: +61 2 9351 2606 "Ceci n'est pas une .signature" ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.