| 个人简介 | |
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 Prof. Jie Zhang School of sociology and psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, China |
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| 标题： Suicide Reduction: What Have Been Done and Have Not Been Done in Mainland China? | |
| 摘要： The overall suicide rates in the world are on the rise, and the rates in the United States have rapidly increased by about 33%, from 10.5 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 14.0 in 2017, regardless of prevention efforts with affluent funding. In contrast, the overall suicide rate in China has decreased from 23.0/100,000 in 1999 to 8.6/100,000 in 2017, marking a 63% drop over past two decades. The most marked decrease has been observed in young women in rural areas under 35 years of age, whose suicide rate appears to have dropped by as much as 90%. Compared to the US, far less funding has been provided in China for suicide research and prevention and for a much larger population. Here I discuss six plausible reasons for the rapid drop of the Chinese suicide rates. 1. Fast economic development has rapidly improved the quality of life 2. Migration to urbanized areas reduced rural populations 3. Modernized social values liberated rural women 4. One-child one-family policies made today’s marriage age women more valued 5. Surveillance-based counseling monitored youths on campuses 6. The governmental media control curbed the contagion of suicide Chinese government-run media typically do not report negative social events, such as crimes. Suicide incidents, sometimes reported by some small, non-official, and market-oriented media sources, are not encouraged by the government. A side effect of this is to prevent a suicide story from spreading and going viral, which reduces copy-cat of the behavior. Free media as a form of freedom of speech are considered responsible for the health of society and the well-being of the people. On the other hand, media can be used to promote the awareness and prevention of suicide, but China is yet ready for this endeavor. Reduction of psychological strains may reduce suicide risk. In the past three decades, Chinese strains have been lessened through rapid economic growth, social and cultural change, augmented rural-to-urban migration, and the increased life satisfaction brought about by the improved quality of life. | |
| 简介： Dr. Zhang Jie (Zhang is his surname), SUNY Distinguished Professor and Tenured Professor of Sociology at State University of New York Buffalo State. He is also a guest professor at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, China. Professor Zhang Jie had his Bachelor’s degree (1982) from Shandong University of China, one graduate degree, one Master’s degree, and one Ph.D. degree (1992) from Brigham Young University in the United States. Dr. Zhang is a world renown scholar on public health, preventive medicine, social psychiatry, and suicidology. His field work in rural China and numerous publications, supported by two NIMH R01 grants, revealed the unique risk factors of suicide. Dr. Zhang’s Strain Theory of Suicide with its measurement scales provides a new perspective to understand and intervene suicidal behaviors as well as some of the mental disorders. While gaining popularity, the Strain Theory of Suicide was featured in the Science in 2012, together with Dr. Zhang’s field work stories. Dr. Zhang also contributes to the field of sociology by conceptualizing and establishing the Reference Theory, a social psychological theory to account for disputes and an approach to resolution. Dr. Zhang authored six books, over a dozen chapters in books, and near 200 refereed journal articles. He also directs the Centre for Suicide Prevention Research at Shandong University in China. | |
