Transcultural Attitudes toward Homicide and Suicide*

ABSTRACT: Using the concept that homicide and suicide are complex sociopsychiatric phenomena clearly influenced by cultural norms and values that define which behaviors are viewed as deviant, the investigators constructed a small-sample model to determine relevant qualitative attributes of public opinion. A stratified factorial sample of 258 subjects distributed among eight large cities throughout the world was selected for interviewing. The 2,603 resulting statements were then subjected to content analysis and categorization. Results indicated that people in cities, regardless of location, are most concerned about crimes of violence, especially homicide, and those against property. Other kinds of life-threatening offenses such as arson, war, and suicide are seldom seen as important “crimes.” Many people endorse a problem-solving approach to dealing with crime and criminals, but a reservoir of traditional, punitive attitudes clearly remains among the less educated, lower socioeconomic classes. A commonality of many attitudes in these various urban centers does suggest that modern communication techniques may well have a modulating effect on culture-bound orientations toward crime.     

The Moderating Effect of the Negative Impact of Recent Life Events on the Relation between Intrinsic Religiosity and Death Ideation in Older Adults

Researchers tested the hypothesis that the negative impact of recent life events would moderate the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and death ideation in older adults. Participants (n = 272) completed assessments of death ideation, intrinsic religiosity, and negative impact of recent life events. We confirmed the presence of concurrent moderation and found that older adults with greater negative impact of recent life events and high intrinsic religiosity reported greater death ideation. These relatively surprising findings may be due to reduced fear of death in intrinsically religious older adults, an explanation consistent with previous research.     

Factors that Influence Chaplains’ Suicide Intervention Behavior in the Army

We surveyed 868 Army chaplains and 410 chaplain assistants (CAs) about their role in identifying, caring for, and referring soldiers at risk of suicide to behavioral health care. We applied structural equation modeling to identify how behaviors and attitudes related to intervention behavior. In both samples, reluctance and stigma were related to intervention behaviors; efficacy was correlated with intervention behaviors only among chaplains. Training was associated with increased efficacy and lower levels of stigma among chaplains. Improved training may be warranted, but research needs to identify why chaplains and CAs are reluctant to refer soldiers in distress to behavioral health care.     

Aquinas's Opposition to Killing the Innocent and its Distinctiveness within the Christian just War Tradition

This essay argues that Aquinas's position regarding the killing of innocent people differs significantly from other representatives of the Christian just war tradition. While his predecessors, notably Augustine, as well as his successors, from Cajetan and Vitoria onward, affirm the legitimacy of causing the death of innocents in a just war in cases of necessity, Aquinas holds that causing the death of innocents in a foreseeable manner, whether intentionally or indirectly, is never justified. Even an otherwise legitimate act of just war cannot legitimate causing the death of innocent people, as this can never advance the common good. This stance also contrasts sharply with much modern and contemporary double effect theorizing in relation to jus in bello. In this regard, Aquinas's position, shaped decisively by his biblical and theological commitments, may point the way towards an ethical orientation beyond the typical divisions of “pacifism” and “just war.”