Preventing Suicide at Suicide Hotspots: A Case Study from Australia

The Gap Park Self‐Harm Minimisation Masterplan project is a collaborative attempt to address jumping suicides at Sydney's Gap Park through means restriction, encouraging help‐seeking, and increasing the likelihood of third‐party intervention. We used various data sources to describe the Masterplan project's processes, impacts, and outcomes. There have been reductions in reported jumps and confirmed suicides, although the trends are not statistically significant. There has been a significant increase in police call‐outs to intervene with suicidal people who have not yet reached the cliff's edge. The collaborative nature of the Masterplan project and its multifaceted approach appear to be reaping benefits.     

The Great Black Hope: Hope and Its Relation to Suicide Risk among African Americans

Positive psychology has garnered considerable scholarly interest recently and has been suggested to hold promise in the application to suicide research and prevention; however, empirical research has lagged behind these suggestions. This is the first study to examine the relationship between hope and a specific theory of suicide in African Americans. It was hypothesized that (1) hope would negatively predict the interpersonal suicide risk factors of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness; and positively predict acquired capability to enact suicide; (2) hope would negatively predict suicidal ideation; and (3) the interpersonal suicide risk factors would predict suicidal ideation. Results were primarily as predicted. Implications for hope theory and Joiner's theory of suicidal behavior are discussed, as well as implications for clinical practice.     

Toward a cumulative science of emotion: a functional-cognitive framework for emotion research

ABSTRACT

Definitions of emotion and emotional phenomena are often infused with intuitions and theoretical ideas about what is “truly” emotional. Although these intuitions and ideas motivate people to study emotion, their prominence at the conceptual level can hamper progress in emotion research. In this paper, we argue that there is merit in defining emotional phenomena as much as possible in terms of behavioural principles that have been developed outside of emotion research. We clarify that such a functional approach is compatible with, and can even strengthen, cognitive approaches to emotion research. This functional-cognitive perspective reveals ways to increase the cumulative nature of emotion research and to surpass initial intuitions and theoretical ideas.