UDC

Authors

Abstract

The article is devoted to the suicidal behaviour in the Barents Region. Nowadays, according to the available statistics, most developed countries have a rather high suicide rate, indicating the global nature of this problem. The author points out that, although the humanities have accumulated considerable experience of theoretical understanding of intentional suicide, its regional factors are only starting to be investigated. Most of the researchers often disregard the regional and subregional differences in suicidal behaviour caused by genetic, cultural and mental peculiarities of the people and ethnic groups living in these areas. When studying suicide dynamics one should not overlook the fact that an individual is a part of an ethnic group, and that it is ethnic and cultural patterns of behaviour, expressed in traditions, customs and way of thinking, that form the main traits of a person. Mechanical comparison of suicide rates in mono-ethnic Europe and multi-ethnic Russia, without taking into account the genetic and mental peculiarities of the peoples living in the studied regions, is unacceptable. As we see it, the decisive factors influencing the development of suicidal behaviour in the Russian part of the Barents Region are its socioeconomic problems, ethnocultural characteristics and erosion of traditional meaning structures. The final part of the article states that, in terms of suicide prevention in the region, hopes are pinned on the programme for the socioeconomic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation for the period until 2020.

Keywords

References

1. Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative. Geneva, 2014. 97 p.
   
2. Dregalo A.A., Ul’yanovskiy V.I. Sotsiologiya regional’nykh transformatsiy: v 2 t. T. 1. Regional’nyy sotsium 1989–1998: ot nadezhdy k razocharovaniyu [Sociology of Regional Transformations: In 2 Vols. Vol. 1. Regional Society 1989–1998: From Hope to Disappointment]. Arkhangelsk, 2010. 493 p.
   
3. Mendelevich V.D. Psikhologiya deviantnogo povedeniya [Psychology of Deviant Behaviour]. St. Petersburg, 2005. 445 p.
   
4. Silviken A. Prevalence of Suicidal Behaviour Among Indigenous Sami in Northern Norway. Int. J. Circumpolar Health, 2009, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 204–211.
   
5. Soininen L., Pukkala E. Mortality of the Sami in Northern Finland 1979–2005. Int. J. Circumpolar Health, 2008, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 43–55.
   
6. Näyhä S. Suicide Mortality in Finnish Lapland by Small Areas, with Reference to Temporal Trends. Int. J. Circumpolar Health, 2009, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 224–234.
   
7. Kaiser N., Renberg E. Suicidal Expressions Among the Swedish Reindeer-Herding Sami Population. Suicidology Online, 2012, no. 3, pp. 102–113.