Student Suicide in India: Unintended Consequences of Socio-Ecological Factors

Omega (Westport). 2022 Jun 27:302228221111932. doi: 10.1177/00302228221111932. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

The expectation of family members and society towards students has increased in recent years to perform well or achieve success in their life. But lack of job opportunities and increased competition among students has depressed the student community. The expectation without support has negatively impacted students which has catalysed suicide among the students in India. Students are committing suicide in Indian society due to failure in achieving families' expectations which is a matter of grave concern for social scientists. The current study has applied content analysis as a method to evaluate the cases of student suicide. The cases of student suicide have been collected from different newspapers, magazines, and news portals from July 2020 and April 2021. The study finds that most students are committed suicide due to depression. The study points out that students committed suicide due to failure to fulfil the expectations of a family member.

Keywords: India; content analysis; socio-ecological paradigm; student; suicide.