| dc.description.abstract | This study on suicide and attempted suicide was
carried out in Nairobi. The main purposes of the
study werg (1) to investigate the extent and nature
of suicide in Kenva in general and Nairobi in particular
(2) to look at the relationship between suicidal
acts and the African life style, that is, the
extended family systems, polygamous marriages and
place of residence (3) to investigate the relationship
between current Kenyan social problems and suicide
(4) to find out the impact of suicide on the family
of the individuals committed suicide and finally to
sensitize the Kenyan people to the fact that suicide
is really a cry for help and its survivors need other
forms of treatment rather thary punishment.
The theoretical rationale of this study was that
the determinants of suicide are multifactorial as
possed to deterministic. The latter holds that human
beings are subjected and subservient to some powerful
forces over which the individual has no control.
The study covered a 5 year period (1975-1979)
and included:-
(1) 203 individual cases of suicide reported
in the newspapers (Daily Nation) during
1975-1979;
(2) 56 cases of individuals who had killed
themselves as shown in police records;
(3) 117 individuals who had attempted suicide;
(4) 79 individuals as a control group;
(5) 30 cases of family members or relatives
of individuals who had committed or attempted
suicide; and
(6) 25 case studies of individuals who had
attempted suicirle and 5 cases of individuals
who had succeeded in killing themselves
as reported by their relatives;
Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques
were used to arrive at the samples. Multivariate
tables and Chi-square tests were used to analyse
the data.
The most significant firtding of this study was
that suicide is on increase in Nairobi and the rate
of increase is infact higher than the rate of population
increase. The rate of population increase in
Nairobi during 1975-1979 was 7.5 per cent while that
of the successflll and attempted at that time were
300 and 550 per cent respectively.
The study also indicated that there were more
suicidal attempts than successful suicides in Nairobi
at the time. The majority of those who attempted
suicide were found to be young, unemployed, had some
formal education and were married women, most of
whom were housewives. The majority of those who
succeeded in killing themselves were older, employed
and most of them were married men.
In addition to that those who attempted suicide
came from places far from Nairobi (long distance
migration) and were generally dissatisfied with their
marriage, occupation, income, education, place of
residence and life achievement. The individuals
who succeeded in killing themselves carne from places
near Nairobi (short distance migration) and either
stayed alone or with their relatives, while those
who attempted suicide either stayed with spouses
and children or parents and relatives.
The majority of those who attempted suicide did
so because of poor relationships with spouses, disagreements
with parents,- losses and mental and physical
problems. Those who succeeded in killing themselves
did so because of problems with spouses, unemployment
and poverty.
The methods employed in suicide varied with the
type of suicide. Those who succeeded in killing themselves
used violent methods while those who attempted
to do so used non-violent methods. The items used
depended on availability.
The majority of individuals who were involved
in suicidal acts did so during the months when there
was shortage in protein and calorific food supply and
the periods of peak labour demand in most parts of
Kenya. The months were found to be January-March;
July-September; October-December for attempted suicide
and April-June and October-December for successful
suicide.
The findings showed that very few of those who
attempted suicide had attended the psychiatric clinic
at Kenyatta National Hospital when referred. The
majority of the relatives of suicide victims tended
to be resentful of the victims and felt that they
had been let down.
In conclusion, this study has shown that suicide
is on the increase in Nairobi and this, has nothing
to do with population increase of this city. It has
also shown that factors that may lead people in
Kenya to commit suicide are varied including poor
family relationships, unemployment, the African life
style and losses. Throughout the study, suicide came
out as a way of communicating problems while infact
creating many more problems for the family members
left behind. | en |
