Comparative Analysis of Suicide,Accidental, and Undetermined Cause of Death Classification

Suicide determination is not standardized across medical examiners, and many suspected suicides are later classified as accidental or undetermined. The present study investigated patterns between these three groups using a medical examiner database and 633 structured interviews with next of kin. There were similarities across all three classification groups, including rates of mental illness and psychiatric symptoms. Those classified suicide were more likely to be male, to have died in a violent fashion, and have a stronger family history of suicide. Chronic pain was very common across all three groups, but significantly higher in the accidental and undetermined groups.     

Unscrambling the B-Picture: Counselling Consultancy and Strategic Management

Some reflections are presented on the author's experience as a management counsellor and how he works with people in organisations. The basic assumption is that the critical unit is the individual and that working with organisations means working with people firstly as individuals alone and secondly as individuals in groups of one sort or another. Each individual experiences an organisation differently and these individual perceptions drive behaviours in organisations. The idea that the best modes of working are through psychologically close team with common perceptions and values is questioned. The author's preference is to counsel people individually and then help them to relate collectively at levels which are mutually tolerable. The optimum performance of individuals within an organisation is when they have learned to accommodate their needs in a mutually agreeable organisational culture.     

“We Need Something Different”

This article examines responses to the controversial picketing and media-savvy provocations of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). Since WBC’s conduct is widely perceived as cruel, people often respond with anger and animosity, which reinforce WBC’s self-representation as a persecuted church. Conversely, I have engaged Westboro Baptists in interviews that function as “bridging conversations.” This methodology centers on critical-empathic listening, comparative religious ethics, and a disciplined restraint from expressing moral judgment. I argue that this response is supported by the data and understandings obtained, metapragmatic commentary, my rapport with churchgoers, and evidence of their empathy. In conclusion, I gauge the methodology’s risks and consider its expansion, for example, with undergraduates who have joined our conversations. In an era of polarized discourse, nonjudgmental listening is a counter-intuitive response that troubles entrenched binaries, including the public fashioning of WBC as a dehumanized enemy.