About
Overview
At a time of profound transformations in the global economy, suicides linked to working conditions or experiences are rising. An estimated 70,000 people die by work-related suicide globally each year. Yet, we have limited knowledge of how and why working conditions influence individual suicides. As work-related suicides are not legally recognised, investigated or regulated in a majority of countries worldwide, this remains a largely undocumented phenomenon. This project will undertake a first cross-national, multidisciplinary and qualitative study of work-related suicide in the UK, France and Canada, aiming to generate new knowledge and understanding of its complex causes and contexts. Our project is underpinned by an innovative social justice perspective that examines the social and policy contexts of suicide, considering the ways in which structural conditions create a differential vulnerability to suicide in work.
Aims
Bringing together a team of suicide researchers and legal scholars, our project will:
- identify, analyse and compare causal factors behind work-related suicide across different occupations, sectors and national contexts;
- address urgent issues of recognition, justice and accountability for suicidal individuals and their families;
- develop, through rigorous comparative analysis, evidence-based and actionable recommendations to transform suicide prevention strategies nationally and internationally.
What will we do?
- In-depth qualitative analysis of 150 suicide cases using 'sociological autopsy' methods
- Extensive interviews with bereaved family members, friends and colleagues, and with people with lived experience of suicidality
- Comparative socio-legal analysis of systems for tackling work-related suicide in the UK, France and Canada
- Co-production and evidence synthesis: collaboration with policy-makers, trade unions, bereaved advocacy groups and suicide charities
