Posted: June 22nd, 2022

Suicide

According to the text, there are nearly 900,000 suicides in a year in the world. The truth of the matter is that this number is probably much higher due to underreported instances of intentional death. As a result of technology, a new trend in suicide is death due to “cyberbullying.” For this case study, use the Internet and/or the Strayer library to identify, research, and explore a suicide as a result of cyberbullying, physical bullying, and/or body shaming that has occurred within the last three years.

Write a 3- to 5-page paper in which you address the following thoroughly. Cite specifics from the case to support your arguments:

Examine three elements of cyberbullying, physical bullying, and/or body shaming and then determine whether or not the defendant(s) should be charged with a cyberbullying, physical bullying, and/or body shaming crime. Provide a rationale to support your position.
Based on what you learned about the relationship between suicide and depression from the text, support or refute the following statement: “People who die by suicide are usually experiencing undiagnosed depression.” Support your opinion.
Analyze the significance of why suicide is becoming a more prevalent area of interest due to the wide use of social media. Next, debate whether or not suicide will remain a focal point or receive the notoriety necessary for agencies to continue working to get support for individuals who are considering suicide. Provide a rationale to support your response.
The text states that suicide rates vary around the world. Based on the text, propose two possible causes for the differences around the world. Next, give your opinion as to whether suicide should be considered a deviant behavior and examine the ramifications. Justify your response.
Use at least three quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar types of websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references should follow the Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Properly classify suicide and suicidal tendencies.
Describe the procedures for handling mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Use technology and information resources to research issues related to the criminal mind.
Write clearly and concisely about topics involving the criminal mind using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
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Suicide
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Suicide
According to world health organization, suicide is a global phenomenon that takes place throughout human life. Suicide mostly affects individuals between the age of fifteen to twenty-nine, and seventy-nine percent of suicidal deaths take place in developing countries. Suicide is considered a public health issue that starts with several suicide attempts and ideation. According to new trends, suicide is caused by “cyberbullying,” which highly increasing due to the use of the internet. The paper is research about suicide as a result of cyberbullying, physical bullying, and body shaming within the last three years.
Bullying is a broad concept that means intentional and repeatedly harming a person, either emotionally, physically, or mentally. Intimidation is accompanied by aggressive behaviors, repetition of the harm over and over, as well as exercising power to weaker persons, for instance, the use of physical strength (Robinson,et,al.,2016). The common types of bullying that have contributed to suicide in the last three years include physical bullying, cyberbullying, and body shaming, which falls under social bullying. Through the use of social media and the internet, body shaming and cyberbullying have become collective behavior.
Cyberbullying and body shaming occur when people send mean comments and messages about someone’s weight and appearances. Body shaming is considered one of the standard types of cyberbullying. According to various research, about fifty percent of persons are bullied about their weight relating to their eating habits — for instance, the case of Livingston, a news anchor who received a fat-shaming message from a viewer in 2012. Livingston decided to air the word and use it to fight against body shaming. O’Brien was fat-shamed for dancing, where the defendant addressed him as a specimen. Body shaming has affected most people, both skinny and fat leading to low esteem issues and eating disorders.
Cyber-bullying is accompanied by posting false information about someone, ridiculing a person through public media, hate speech, sending threats to a person as well as sending unpleasant text messages (Robinson, et,al.,2016). Cyberbullying develops from childhood, where a child encounters difficulties in solving problems, which results in bullying as a coping mechanism in dealing with stressful situations. Through the national comprehensive prevention council, about forty-three percent of students have gone through intimidation, which happens through gossip applications such as whisper, sending emails as well as catfishing.
Physical bullying is a severe issue in the mental state of the victim as well as witnesses to the act. Physical bullying involves an imbalance of power between the parties where the victim tends to be weaker, targeting the same victim repeatedly; the bullying is intentionally done to hurt someone or intimidate them, for instance, through spitting, hitting, stealing, slapping or pushing. Physician bullying may lead to or accompanied by sexual harassment or assault, where women tend to be victims often.
Defendants of cyberbullying, physical bullying, and body shaming should be charged and reported to the department of justice’s civil rights. Every state in the United States has laws and policies to prevent bullying through severe consequences. Bullying and any harassment are considered as a civil rights violation, which is punishable by law (Robinson, et, al., 2016) . Cyberbullying and other types of bullying are major contributing factors towards suicide, for instance, inflicting pain and injuries that may lead to suicide, mental brought about by shame and trauma. Bullying cases are considered to be homicide considering factors such as the nature of bullying and imbalance of power, especially during physical bullying.
“People who die of suicide are usually experiencing undiagnosed depression.” Depression is a type of mental disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Depression affects both men and women, but according to statistics, women mostly affected than men (Jasso-Medrano, and Lopez-Rosales, 2018). According to statistics, depression is the leading cause of disabilities, mental diseases as well as suicide. People living in low-income areas receive no treatment for depression due to inadequate medical resources, social stigma where the condition is treated as insanity as well as barriers to effective care such as financial difficulties and lack of awareness. In some instances, victims of depression are misdiagnosed and given anti-depressants as the fastest and most available medication.
People have shallow information about depression and suicide, especially on vulnerability as well as signs and symptoms. The stigma around depression has led to more undiagnosed cases, which has resulted in more deaths through suicide. The expensive nature of mental health services has resulted in more undiagnosed cases; for instance, psychiatric appointments and drugs prescribed tend to be very expensive, especially to individuals with bipolar disorder. Depression can be treated, primarily through cognitive -behavioral therapy which works on replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
Some cases of depression are extreme where, without any intervention, the individual goes to the extent of committing suicide (Jasso-Medrano, Lopez-Rosales, 2018). Such conditions require nerve stimulation techniques or electroconvulsive therapy. Several suicide cases are connected to depression, where two-thirds of people who commit suicide are confirmed to be depressed, mainly due to social factors such as poverty, unemployment, divorce, and many more. Seeking help is the safest and better way to end and reduce cases of suicide cases, especially in the recurrent type of depression and bipolar. There is power in venting and seeking help going through a depressing situation, grief, or any trauma.
Suicide is becoming a common area of interest due to the extensive use of social media according to several systematic reviews in the United States. Social media and time taken on-screen have contributed to mental health issues among young people. Social media is associated with cyberbullying, body shaming as well as physical bullying, according to a meta-analysis. Addicts of social media are considered to be introverts and isolated individuals who find pleasure and companion through social media. Social media contain stressful content, lifestyle pressure, and cyberbullying causing stress to the user. Anxiety and depression are some of the causes of suicide; therefore, the behavior may likely result in suicide.
Social media content is a contributing factor to mood changes where most researchers are using social media data to make suicide predictions. Top technology gurus such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had knowledge and idea of how influential technology can be, including harmful effects. Steve Jobs strictly controlled his children on technology use, where screen hours and school work hours were well stated (Robinson,et,al.,2016) . Social media can be detrimental to users, especially the human brain, where changes in technology, anxiety from fascinating events in social media have affected the human mind. The use of social media leads to depression, which originates from brain cravings, especially the power of liking, especially on Instagram. The impulsive emotions and moods created after the use of social media are the basis of mental illness, which leads to suicide.
Suicide will receive the notoriety necessary for agencies to continue working on getting support for individuals who are considering suicide. Most organizations, both national and international, for instance, the world health organization has concluded that suicide is and a desperate attempt considered when an individual could not bear more pain and suffering and wish to have an alternative to taking away life. Most suicidal people begin by giving out various warning signs through actions, writings, or having death discussions. The signs should be taken seriously, especially when the individual is going through depression or suffering from bipolar. Some of the essential facts to note are destructive behaviors, sudden change of personality, isolation, immediate sense of calm as well as hopelessness.
Agencies such as federal agencies and national organizations are involved in reducing and stopping suicide by helping individuals who opt for suicide during a crisis. For instance, the American Association of suicidology is a non-profit organization that creates public awareness for people through offering training and education on suicide prevention. The American Foundation for suicide prevention has, however, contributed highly through funding research on suicide.
The research findings are used to offer resources and training on survivors, victims as well as develop policies related to suicide prevention. Additionally, the national suicide prevention lifeline is used in case of emergencies or assistance on suicide incidences and crisis. The help is readily available and connected within 24 hours for mental health and suicide assistance. Very many agencies have come forward to stop suicide as a national and global issue and cause of death through helping persons with suicidal thoughts.
Suicide rates vary around the world, where social-economic factors have contributed highly to the difference. In high income earning countries, social and economic positions, work promotion, and so on matters and may leads to suicide. Suicide is a public health issue where countries with adequate and reliable medical resources will tend to have a lower suicide rate compared to countries with inadequate resources. Most third world countries have insufficient medical facilities as well as effective prevention programs, which leads to a higher rate of suicides due to undiagnosed depression. Nevertheless, lack of exposure and civilization is another cause of suicide. Children raised in and digitized environment tend to embrace technology in a manner that would lead to addiction, anxiety and may lead to mental health issues. The human development index varies from one country to another, where inequality in social, economic factors had led to imbalances in the development index.
Suicide is not a deviant behavior because deviant behaviors are caused by disobeying the government, parents as well as bosses at the workplace. Suicide is more of a health issue than a criminal matter unless where defendants of cyberbullying are concerned. Individuals who choose suicide are considered to have mental health issues such as depression, which drives them into alcoholism and suicide (Jasso-Medrano, and Lopez-Rosales,2018). Suicidal people are deemed to have no control over their irrational decisions, for instance, a victim of body shaming or cyberbullying. Rather than viewing suicide as deviancy, measures and assistance should be offered to victims of attempted suicide, depressed individuals as well as creating awareness on suicide prevention and importance of life.
Suicide is a global issue that has led to more deaths in the last three years. Suicide is contributed by factors such as the use of social media, depression, social-economic factors, and so on. Cyberbullying, body shaming, and physical bullying are the leading cause of suicide due to the high rise of internet use. Undiagnosed depression, on the other hand, is connected to suicide because inadequate or lack of treatment and psychological support may lead to suicidal attempts and later to death. Organizations and federal agencies have shown efforts to reduce suicide rates instead of letting the issue remain as a focal point. Suicide rates vary from country to another due to socio-economic factors, index developments well as a technological imbalance. Instead of treating suicide as deviant behavior, it is vital to fight and create awareness about suicide through training and offering support to mentally unstable individuals.

References
Jasso-Medrano, J. L., & Lopez-Rosales, F. (2018). Measuring the relationship between social media use and addictive behavior and depression and suicide ideation among university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 87, 183-191.
Robinson, J., Cox, G., Bailey, E., Hetrick, S., Rodrigues, M., Fisher, S., & Herrman, H. (2016). Social media and suicide prevention: a systematic review. Early intervention in psychiatry, 10(2), 103-121.