| Based on my 17-month fieldwork in a county in North China, I argue in this dissertation that suicide in contemporary China is mainly resistance against domestic injustice. After examining previous sociological and psychiatric studies on suicide, I argue that they are based on the basic ideas about human nature in Western culture, and both argue suicide happens when there is something disordered (individual or society). Because of different understandings of human nature and life, suicide in China should be understood from different perspectives. By analyzing 30 cases, I study the dynamics of suicide in terms of family politics and local psychology. One commits suicide when a power balance is broken in the power games in the nuclear families. Domestic injustice is different from public injustice because domestic injustice is not only closely related to, but also often strengthened by emotional interdependence. Although depression or other mental disorders also follow domestic injustice in some cases, it is not the cause for suicide. Suicide and depression are seen as different responses to the same situation of domestic injustice. In the conclusion I move out of the domestic sphere and see how suicide is understood in the public sphere. I argue that suicide in contemporary China is not mainly caused by too traditional values as argued by Margery Wolf, but reflects a dilemma in the modernity of China. After the examination of two major suicide prevention programs in Beijing, I try to offer some practical suggestions in suicide prevention. |
