The phenomenon of suicide and its relationship to cultural transformations in the Iraqi society

A sociological field study in Al-Diwaniyah Governorate

Abstract

Summary

The phenomenon of suicide is a  basic social phenomena that exists   in all societies, including the Iraqi society. This phenomenon has a negative impact on society due to the society's customs and traditions that prevent the occurrence of such act. Also this phenomenon  stigmatizes socially those who commit such action. Many sociologists and psychologists called for studying this phenomenon through finding its causes, and trying to treat and limit it. Therefore, our current study is aimed at identifying the personal, social and economic characteristics that lead to suicide, as well as identifying the most important factors affecting the occurrence of suicide in both sexes. Moreover the study also seeks to investigate the impact of globalization, modern technology, modern communications, and the rapid developments that have occurred recently in the Iraqi society on the increase in the phenomenon of suicide. The study will present some recommendations and proposals that serve as preventive procedural steps to reduce the phenomenon of suicide and the factors driving it                                      

The study has reached to a set of results one of which is that although suicide includes all ages and is not specific to one age without another, but it is more common in the age ranging from (18-30). This the researcher believes could be because of  the group being responsible for financially supporting society, and it is also the result of the bad economic factors that can have negative impact on the lives of individuals, as poverty, need, and bad living conditions can drive many people to suicide. Finally, the study has proven through the statistical means used as well as research methods that modern technology, internet advancements, and the integration of other countries' cultures with the culture of the original society has greatly influenced the lives of others. Individuals became very influenced  by what is presented and transmitted to them through various media, in addition to the imitation factor that has great impact on the lives of many groups of society since individuals tend to imitate what is shown on satellite channels, such as series and dubbed films that contain suicide scenes. Thus, there must be censorship on individuals from within the family itself and outside the family, this means that there should be a political televised censorship that controls what is shown through the various media in order to control the collection of phenomena of violence, murder, drug trafficking, as well as suicide.