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Journal Article
The Influence of Suggestion on Suicide: Substantive and Theoretical Implications of the Werther Effect
David P. Phillips
American Sociological Review
Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jun., 1974), pp. 340-354
Published
by: American Sociological Association
DOI: 10.2307/2094294
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2094294
Page Count: 15
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Topics: Social movements, Newspapers, Suicide rates, Homicide, Anomie, Alcoholism, Mottos, Attempted suicide, Statistics
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Since scans are not currently available to screen readers, please contact JSTOR User Support for access. We'll provide a PDF copy for your screen reader.
Abstract
This paper shows that suicides increase immediately after a suicide story has been publicized in the newspapers in Britain and in the United States, 1947-1968. The more publicity devoted to a suicide story, the larger the rise in suicides thereafter. The rise in suicides after a story is restricted mainly to the area in which the story was publicized. Alternative explanations of these findings are examined; the evidence indicates that the rise in suicides is due to the influence of suggestion on suicide, an influence not previously demonstrated on the national level of suicides. The substantive, theoretical, and methodological implications of these findings are examined.
American Sociological Review © 1974 American Sociological Association
