A sociological research on suicide attempts and suicidal events in Siirt

This thesis study has addressed the issue of attempted and committed suicide cases in Siirt between 2008 and 2013. Within the scope of the study, there exist 104 committed and 347 attempted suicide cases. In this study, data obtained from polls conducted to family members of those who committed suicide, and from information form filled by officials of Siirt State Hospital due to suicide attempts have been compiled and interpreted. In this thesis, suicides and suicide attempts have been interpreted in the context of socio-demographic, economic and cultural aspects of Siirt province. Objective of the research is to determine the course of suicide cases in Siirt and main factors leading to suicide; moreover, to determine whether there exist different features of suicides in Siirt from those in other regions, to build up the profile of those committing and attempting suicide. Considering data obtained from interviews with family members of those who committed suicide in 104 cases, 66,3% of those having committed suicide is woman and 33,7% of them is man. As regards the age, it has been determined that 69,2% of them are between the range of 13-26, that 76% of them have been forced to immigrate from other regions, that 71,1% of them are poorly educated, that 77% of them do not work or are seasonal workers and that 47,1 of them have committed suicide by hanging themselves and 29,8 of them through guns. As reasons of suicides, marriage with someone undesirable or force into marriage (60%), and deals with pawnbrokers (13,5%) come to the fore. These findings show that family and society pressure for women and deals with pawnbrokers for men are influential in causes of suicides. Regarding those who attempted suicide, it has been found that 70% of them are women, 65,4% of them are between the age range of 15-24, 80,4% of them are single, 91,6% of them are poorly educated and 76,7% of them have attempted suicide through chemicals. It has been determined that with a rate of 43%, familial problems are main factors for suicide attempts. The most striking results of the research are that contrary to the all the suicides of all over the world, suicides by women are approximately twice as those of men, that usage of guns are at high levels in women's suicides and half of the suicides by men in Siirt province are due to pawnbrokers. Keywords: Siirt province, Suicide, Suicide attempts