TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

TASK 1: STATEMENT OF PROBLEM -----------------------------------------------------------------2

TASK 2: REASONS FOR SELECTING THE AREA OF RESEARCH -----------------------------3

TASK 3: METHOD OF INVESTIGATION -------------------------------------------------------------4

TASK 4: DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT-------------------------------------------------------5

TASK 5: PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTION-------------------------------------------------8

TASK 6: PRESENTATION OF DATA-------------------------------------------------------------------9

TASK 7: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA ---------------------------------------14

TASK 8: STATEMENT OF FINDINGS-----------------------------------------------------------------15

TASK 9: RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY--------------------16

APPENDIX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge my teacher Mrs. Edwards who guided myself and the rest of my

class though the process of this project, and whose patience enabled me to complete this. I would

also like to thank my parents, without their support this would not be possible.

1
TASK 1: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

What are the causes of suicide amongst teenagers and the effects on their families?

2
TASK 2: REASONS FOR SELECTING THE AREA OF RESEARCH

I chose this because with the obvious rise in teenage suicide, our country possesses little to no

data on this topic. Collecting data would be prove useful in bringing insight into why and how

suicide affects persons. Therefore, policies could be put in place to combat this issue.

Persons may be suicidal for several reasons which I would like to explore. Suicide affects both

the victim and their families and I believe research should be done for this this subject to be

better understood.

3
TASK 3: METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

In order to collect information for my research, I chose to use a questionnaire as my research

method. The questionnaire is made up of 25 questions based on the causes and effects of suicide.

I chose this method because:

 It is reliable

 It is cheap

 It is convenient

 It is less time consuming

 It is confidential

4
TASK 4: DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

QUESTIONNARE

Title: An investigation into the causes of suicide amongst teenagers and the effects this could
have on the families.

Instructions: Please tick the appropriate answer to the following questions.

Please note that these answers are confidential and would not be used on your part.

1. What is your age?

a) Under 18☐ c) 30-40☐
b) 18-30☐ d) 40-50+☐
2. Gender?
a) Male☐ b) Female☐
3. Religion?
a) Christian☐ c) Muslim☐
b) Hindu☐ d) Other☐
4. Ethnicity?
a) African☐ c) Mixed☐
b) East Indian ☐ d) Other☐
5. Level of Education.
a) Primary ☐ c) Tertiary☐
b) Secondary☐ d) None☐
6. Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. Do you agree?
a) Yes ☐ b) No☐

7. Did you personally know anyone that has committed suicide?

a) Yes☐ b) No☐

8. Has anyone in this community committed suicide?

5
a) Yes☐ b) No☐
9. There has been an increase in suicide rates, especially in teenagers.
a) Agree☐ c) Strongly Agree☐
b) Disagree☐ d) Strongly Disagree☐
10. Is suicide more acceptable in today’s society?
a) Agree☐ c) Strongly Agree☐
b) Disagree☐ d) Strongly Disagree☐
11. Are today’s youth more susceptible to becoming suicide victims as opposed to past
generations?
a) Agree☐ c) Strongly Agree☐
b) Disagree☐ d) Strongly Disagree☐

12. What age do you think teenage suicide most common?

a) 12-13☐ c) 16-17☐
b) 14-15☐ d) 18-19☐
13. Which gender is more likely to commit suicide?
a) Male☐ b) Female☐
14. Do you think suicide is preventable?
a) Yes☐ b) No☐

15. Is it possible to predict suicide?

a) Yes☐ b) No☐
16. Do you think that suicidal tendencies can be inherited?
a) Yes☐ c) Uncertain☐
b) No ☐
17. Which of the following are common causes of suicide in teenagers?
a) Bullying☐ c) Substance abuse/Addiction☐
b) Mental Illness (e.g. depression d) Domestic problems☐
,bipolar disorder)☐

6
18. Why don’t persons talk about suicide and mental illness?
a) Stigma☐ c) Unwillingness☐
b) Taboo☐
19. Does family hold responsibility if their child attempts suicide?
a) Definitely☐ c) Maybe☐
b) Definitely not☐
20. Is there such a thing as “rational” suicide?
a) Absolutely☐ c) In some cases☐
b) Absolutely not☐
21. Does suicide have devastating effects on the lives of the family and friends of the victim?
a) Always☐ c) Sometimes☐
b) Usually☐ d) No☐
22. Can suicide of a loved one cause others to become suicidal?
a) Yes☐
b) No☐
23. Common reaction of family members to the suicide of a family member.
a) Guilt ☐ c) Anger☐
b) Relief☐ d) Shock or numbness☐

24. What measures can be put in place to help prevent suicide?

a) Therapy☐ c) Counselors in schools☐
b) Rising awareness☐ d) Removing the stigma☐

25. Do you think the community of Biche would perpetuate the negative stereotype of a suicide
victim?
a) Yes☐
b) No☐

7
TASK 5: PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTION

A total of 40 questionnaires were distributed 20 to male participants and 20 to female, the age
group and other biodata was varied.

8
TASK 6: PRESENTATION OF DATA

Figure 1: Pie Chart

Question #9: “There has been an increase in suicide rates, especially in teenagers.”

5%
37.50%
Agree
45% Disagree

Strongly Agee
12.50%

Figure 1 above shows that the majority, 45% of respondents strongly agree and 37.5% agrees

that there has been an increase in suicide rates, especially in teenagers. 12.50% disagrees and 5%

strongly disagrees with the statement.

9
Figure 2: Pie Chart

Question #11: “Are today’s youth more susceptible to becoming suicide victims as opposed to

past generations?”

5%

30%

Agree

Disagee

Strongly Agree
50%
Strongly
Disagree
15%

The pie chart above, figure 2, shows that 50% of persons strongly agree that today’s youth are
more susceptible to becoming suicide victims and 30% agree, this totals 80% that generally
agrees with the statement. The minority 15% disagrees and 5% strongly disagree with the
statement evaluated.

10
Figure 3: Bar Graph
Question #14: “Do you think suicide is preventable?”

90.00%

80.00% 77.50%

70.00%

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%
22.50%
20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
Yes No

The graph above figure 3 shows that the majority of persons, 77.50% agree that suicide is
preventable and the minority of 22.50% does not agree with the statement.

11
Figure 4: Table
Question #17: “Which of the following are common causes of suicide in teenagers?”

Possible Responses Number of Respondents

Bullying 17

Mental Illness 8

Substance Abuse/Addiction 10

Domestic Problems 5

Figure 4 shows that 17 respondents believe that bullying is the cause of suicide, 8 respondents
think that mental illness is the cause ,10 selected substance abuse/addiction and 5 think that
domestic problems is the cause.

12
Figure 5: Bar Graph
Question #24: “What measures can be put in place to help prevent suicide?”

Removing the Stigma

20%

Percentage
Counselling in Schools of
47.50% respondants

Raising Awareness
15%

Therapy
17.50%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

Figure 5 above shows that majority of persons, 47.50% believe that having counseling can help
prevent suicide. 20% selected removing the stigma, 17.5% selected therapy as a solution and
15%, the minority selected raising awareness.

13
TASK 7: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

The data collected in the survey that was, represented using at pie chart, figure 1 shows that the
majority of the residents surveyed in Biche equaling to a total of 82.5% of respondents agreed
that there has been an increase in suicide rates, especially in teenagers. 5% disagree and 12.50%
strongly disagree that there has been an increase in suicide rates. Persons may have made this
conclusion based on the amount of times that they have heard about suicide victims or persons
that have attempted suicide.

The pie chart, figure 2 that was used to represent the responses for question 11 of the
questionnaire showed that half of the responses were persons strongly agreeing that today’s
youth are in fact more likely to become suicide victims as opposed to previous generations this
could be due to many factors. 30% also agreed. On the other hand 5 and 15 percent strongly
disagreed and disagreed respectfully.

An average of 78% of persons believe that suicide is preventable this response was expected
because in many instances suicide have been prevented. On the other hand a small fraction of
persons, 22.5% believed that suicide cannot be prevented. This data is from figure 3.

Suicide may be caused by a number or reasons this greatly depends on the person in question but
some parallels can be observed. According the results in figure 4’s table bullying is the main
cause of suicide in teenagers seeing that bullying often occurs at school, an environment that a
teenager may spend quite a lot time in, 17 persons selected bullying, another major cause is
substance abuse 10 persons selected this, addiction can potentially cause irrational behavior.

Most of the respondents 47.5% believed that implementing counselling in schools is the effective
method to combat teenage suicide, one-fifth percent (20%) of persons said that removing the
stigma that surrounds talking about one’s suicidal thoughts or tendencies is the best solution this
has the potential to encourage even more positive change. Therapy and raising awareness were
also selected equaling 17.5 and 15 percent respectfully.

14
TASK 8: STATEMENT OF FINDINGS

The data collected from the questionnaire investigated suicide in the community in Biche. These
are listed below:

1. With reference to figure 1 that has undeniably been an increase in teenage suicide in the
community of Biche. The majority of respondents expressed that the believed that there
has been an increase with a total of 82.5% in agreement with the statement proposed.
2. With reference to figure 4 it can be said that bullying is the main cause of teenage suicide
in the community seventeen of the forty respondents gave this answer.
3. Introducing counselling in schools seems to be the best ways to prevent teenage suicide
nearly half of the respondents agreed with this.

15
TASK 9: RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Recommendations:

1. Implementing counselors in schools in the community to help students.

2. We as a community should make the effort to remove the taboo around suicidal
tendencies.

Implementation Strategy:

The government should assign one or more counsellor to all secondary school with the sole
purpose of dealing with suicide.

16
APPENDIX
TABULATION SHEET RESPONSES

A B C D Total
Question # # % # % # % # % # %
1 8 20 13 33 12 30 7 18 40 100
2 20 50 20 50 - - - - 40 100
3 12 30 15 38 10 25 3 8 40 100
4 14 35 17 43 9 23 0 0 40 100
5 19 46 15 38 5 13 1 3 40 100
6 37 93 3 8 - - - - 40 100
7 12 30 28 70 - - - - 40 100
8 32 80 8 20 - - - - 40 100
9 15 38 5 13 18 45 2 5 40 100
10 12 30 14 35 5 13 9 23 40 100
11 12 30 6 15 20 50 2 5 40 100
12 3 8 10 25 15 38 12 30 40 100
13 26 5 14 35 - - - - 40 100
14 31 78 9 23 - - - - 40 100
15 29 73 11 28 - - - - 40 100
16 18 45 10 25 8 20 - - 40 100
17 17 43 8 20 10 25 5 13 40 100
18 16 40 18 45 6 15 - - 40 100
19 12 30 23 58 5 13 - - 40 100
20 8 20 28 70 4 10 - - 40 100
21 18 45 17 43 4 10 1 3 40 100
22 11 28 29 73 - - - - 40 100
23 9 23 2 5 5 13 24 60 40 100
24 7 18 6 15 19 48 8 20 40 100

17
 25 32 80 8 20 - - - - 40 100
Sample Size: 40 *values rounded off to the nearest whole number

18