Suicide in/as Politics 

Suicide is often seen as a topic that brings together politicians, policy makers, practitioners and the public to work toward the ultimate goal of preventing deaths by suicide, and as such can be portrayed as rising above political divides. In the Suicide in/as Politics project we have questioned this construction of suicide, challenging ourselves to ask the question is suicide prevention political?

To do so in phase one of the Suicide in/as Politics project we have critically analysed the 8 suicide prevention policies in use 2009-2019, the political debates that surround them, and 9 charity documents, which we then shared in phase two with the public to see what they made of the politics of suicide prevention through a series of arts-based workshops.

As the Suicide in/as Politics project reaches it’s close, in this talk we will reflect back on the findings from the two phases of the project, paying particular attention to the findings related to two groups known to be disproportionately affected by suicide: LGBTQ+ people and people criminalised through the justice system.

Hazel Marzetti is an interdisciplinary, qualitative health researcher in the University of Edinburgh’s School of Health in Social Sciences.  Her work primarily focuses on suicide and suicide prevention, with specialist expertise in LGBTQ+ suicide. Her current research uses creative methods to engage communities systemically affected by high rates of suicide to engage in suicide prevention policies and political debates related to suicide (the Suicide in/as Politics project). Her previous work at the University of Glasgow focussed on LGBTQ+ young people’s lived experiences of suicidal thoughts and attempts in Scotland. This will be built on in her new project, the Rain within the Rainbow, starting in 2024, which aims to explore lived experiences of suicide and suicide prevention throughout the life courses of LGBTQ+ people living across the UK.

Dr Alex Oaten is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. Alex’s current research examines the policy and politics of suicide and suicide prevention, with a particular focus on suicide within the criminal justice system. Alex is a qualitative researcher who has experience in a range of research methods including ethnography, narrative interviewing and arts-based research.