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Biomedical subjects

F V Wenz

Publications and source records attributed to F V Wenz.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1982

Family constellation factors and parent suicide potential.

This study assessed if, in fact, family constellation was one of the multiple etiological factors of parent suicide potential. Durkheim's proposition was examined, that married men and women, and especially women, are protected against suicide risk in direct proportion to the number of children they have. The sample consisted of 145 families, comprising 243 parents and 392 children under age 18, which form the subject of this study. A partial correlation approach was taken. Family size and density were significantly related to parent suicide potential. The effects of the family constellation factors were sex-specific. For married women, and to a lesser extent for married men, suicide potential declined with the number of children and density. Sibling spacing proved not significant in predicting parent suicide potential. The findings were discussed in terms of the social integration hypothesis, marital status, sex roles, and depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Aging and suicide? maturation or cohort effect?

Within the field of gerontology investigators have been concerned with determining whether social behavior can be explained by a cohort effect or a generational maturation effect. This paper considers the question by examining suicidal behavior from a subjective perspective. A Suicide Potential Scale is constructed for a sample population in the city of Flint, Michigan, and it is shown that the scale fits the Guttman scale criteria. The mean suicide potential scores of various age groups in the sample are then examined and it can be seen that the data lend support to the cohort model with the exception of individuals seventy-five and older, where it appears that maturation factors play an important role in explaining suicidal behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Sociological correlates of alienation among adolescent suicide attempts.

The purpose of this research is to assess the relationship between adolescent alienation and a number of sociological factors in a sample adolescent suicide attempts from a northern metropolitan area. First, Dean's alienation scale is employed and the distribution of responses of the adolescent suicide attempts are analyzed. Second a number of sociological variables are examined by means of multiple regression procedures. In the regression analysis, eight variables were found to be statistically significant-in descending order: social contact with peers in the neighborhood, conflict with parents, broken romance, economic status of parents, communication blockage with parents, school performance, stepparents, and broken romance, These variables have been salient in previous research and theorizing about adolescent suicidal behavior. The fact that adolescence, by itself, seems to be a good predictor of whether or not a person will attempt suicide strongly suggests that there is something about the condition of adolescence which underlies this type of behavior. One possibility is that biological maturation is itself the crucial variable. Alternatively, the argument which follows concentrates on a major sociological aspect of adolescence-the adolescent's relative alienation from institutionalized social life. Alienation may be endemic to the period of adolescence.

Achievement↗
PubMed1979

Self-injury behavior, economic status and the family anomie syndrome among adolescents.

Only recently has there been a focus upon the psychosocial environment of the family that surrounds the suicide-prone individual. The purpose of this research was to learn more about the association of economic status and family anomie, operationationalized by family normlessness and powerlessness scales, to the differential vulnerability of adolescents to suicide potential. The research design called for a detailed interview with the persons attempting suicide and members of their families. The study samples consisted of 30 low economic and 25 high economic status families. It was predicted that social anomie could be translated into behavioral (attempted suicide) and attitudinal (normlessness and powerlessness) determinants when viewed with regard to its impact upon the family. Significant differences in the degree of normlessness and powerlessness were found for suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents and their families. These differences appear to be part of a family anomie syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Economic status, family anomie, and adolescent suicide potential.

This study attempts to ascertain the existence and economic characteristics of the anomic family as a determinant of high suicide lethality among adolescents. An inverse relationship was hypothesized between economic status, family norm consensus, family power, and adolescent suicide risk. Fifty-five Ss of at least moderate suicide risk--and their families--were obtained from a total sample of 194 adolescents, 13 to 18 years old, who attempted suicide during a three month period. A summary of the descriptive demographic data is as follows: 32.7% of the sample were male and 67.3% female; their mean age was 16.3 years; race was categorized into 81.9% white and 18.1% nonwhite. Correlation coefficients were used to test the hypothesis. Statistically significant differences in the degree of family normlessness and powerlessness were found for suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents and their families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Multiple suicide attempts and informal labeling: an exploratory study.

Attempted suicide is considered to be a form of deviant behavior. Multiple suicide attempts are evaluated within the labeling perspective. Specifically, it is determined if labeling theory can explain acts of repeated suicide attempts as a form of deviance. Two hypotheses are created to test the influence of informal labeling on multiple suicide attempts. Family and friends constitute the categories most important in informal labeling. Labeling by them is measured through a series of behavioral scales. It is hypothesized that the greater the labeling by each of these categories, the greater the likelihood of recurrence of attempted suicide. It is also predicted that the greater the "self concept as suicidal," the greater the likelihood of recurrence. Labeling by family and friends was found to be significantly related to repeat. Conclusions about the relationship between "suicidal self-concept" and repeat were not drawn.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Neighborhood type, social disequilibrium, and happiness.

This study attempts to relate (a) types of urban neighborhoods with extreme scores on the economic status dimension and rates of social and psychological disequilibrium to happiness of its residents, and (b) both aggregate and individual measures of economic status to happiness. Nonverbal behaviors such as suicide, attempted suicide, homicide, marital separation, and psychiatric disruptions served as indicators of the location of "more or less" happiness in the urban environment. Interviews in two types of neighborhoods revealed that people in the high economic-low misery neighborhood experienced greater happiness than those living in the low economic-high misery neighborhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Ecological variation in self-injury behavior.

Only recently have efforts been made to discover the extent of self-injury behavior in the general population. The study reported here was designed to ascertain and examine the degree of relationship between the ecological distribution of self-injury behavior and the indices of economic and ethnic status. The general hypothesis predicts that high rates of self-injury behavior are associated with low economic status and high ethnic status census tract populations in a northern metropolitan area. A total of 2,755 cases of self-injury were collected for the year 1972 from the records of the city and county police departments hospital emergency facilities, and a sample of private physicians. Self-injury behavior was defined as any case of self-inflicted overdosage, asphyxiation, or injury, whether or not there was evidence of suicidal intent. The indices of economic and ethnic status for the various census tracts were computed in the manner suggested by Shevky and Bell (1955). All the measures of economic status were found significantly related to self-injury in the predicted direction. The relationship between ethnic status and self-injury rates was not significant. When ethnic status was disaggregated, a significant relationship was found between self-injury rates for nonwhites and foreign-born whites. The explanation was offered that ethnic differences in self-injury are mediated by economic status variables and subcultural factors.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1977

Marital status, anomie, and forms of social isolation: a case of high suicide rate among the widowed in an urban sub-area.

This study examines the high suicide rate among the widowed in a census tract population in Flint, Michigan, and identifies the social psychological factors of anomie, actual social isolation, and future social isolation as etiologic factors in widow suicide. Explanations of widow suicide are discussed, and recommendations are made for the reduction of the suicide rate.

Age Factors↗