4th Global Conference
Wednesday 12th July - Friday 14th July 2006
Mansfield College, Oxford
Session 5B: On Suicide
Chair: Muhammad Suwaed
Language, Justification and Death: Making Sense of Suicide Notes
Susan
Giles
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
No abstract is presently available
Muslim Women & Violent Jihad: A Look
at Suicide Terror
Farhana
Ali
International Policy Analyst,
RAND Corporation,
Arlington, VA, USA
The use of Muslim women to conduct suicide attacks
in the name of God has sparked a theological debate among scholars and
terrorist groups, alike, about the overall role of women in jihad and
their utility in perpetrating deadly operations. The discourse
of female jihadists, or the mujahidaat, also raises concerns
about the contradictions within male-oriented terrorist organizations,
such as Al Qaeda, on their perceptions of gender and their views on who
has the “right” to
die in perceived conflicts worldwide. How women fit into the terrorists’ framework
of legal versus illegal death is a subject under explored but vital to
better understanding an enemy that is both malleable and unpredictable.
First, this study will explore the classical religious and legal literature
that permits women in contemporary conflicts to conduct suicide, also
known as martyrdom, operations. Contextualizing these arguments helps
to understand how some women, even in patriarchal Islamic societies,
are able to transcend their societal roles and embrace death. This paper
will offer case studies to analyze the impact of Muslim women’s
use of suicide terrorism on conditions—on
government, institutions, political processes, relations between state
and society, underlying social conflicts, and social norms and values.
What sorts of changes does female suicide terrorism produce, and how
effective is this tactic in producing social and political change in
the attitudes and behavior of critical audiences across the international
terrorism spectrum?
Finally, how audiences approve the indiscriminate
act of terror by Muslim women is likely to impact future counter-terrorism
strategies. Equally important to this discourse are those who disapprove
this tactic, and a look at their reactions and overall cognitive and
emotional response can be used to reject the utility of female jihadists
across conflicts.
Depression and Physician Assisted Suicide
in Oregon
Bruce
Powell M.D.
Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Through a study interviewing Oregon physicians caring for patients seeking to utilize the Oregon Death with Dignity Act to obtain physician-assisted suicide, impressions regarding the diagnosis of depression in their patients were sought in an effort to understand the operational definitions of depression being used, and appreciate the relevance of depression to the decision-making process for utilization of the Act. The study employed investigative tools derived from the fields of cultural anthropology, social psychology, and sociology to perform a qualitative assessment of recruited interviewee’s. Reported results are comprised of transcribed responses of interviewee’s to a questionnaire focused upon four critical axes: symptomatology of depression, patient’s decision-making capacity, physician’s knowledge of patient’s sociocultural context, and ethical/legal considerations. The conclusion finds that the interviewee’s did not examine their patient’s decision-making capacity as an adjunct step to the recognition of psychological distress. Problems relating to ethical and anthropological issues in the diagnosis of depression are discussed. Other conclusions are drawn related to deficiencies in training in the diagnosis of depression, definitions of depression utilized by the interviewee’s, and a dependence upon clinical impressions to the exclusion of a consideration for the use of so-called objective measures and tools for diagnosis and follow-up care. Recommendations for possible improvements in the assessment process for potential PAS recipients are made in conclusion.
MeSH terms:
- Anthropology, Cultural (I1.76.201)
- Anthropology, Cultural, Characteristics (I1.76.201.450.324)
- Depression (F1.145.126.350)
- Suicide, Assisted (E2.760.905.850)
- Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary (E2.760.905.199.249.200)
- Healthcare Quality, Access, and Evaluation: Bioethics (N5.350.200)
- Psychological Phenomena and Processes: Mental Processes: Thinking: Decision Making (F2.463.785.373)
All in the Family: Media Presentations
of Family Assisted Suicide in Britain
Daphna
Birenbaum-Carmeli and Albert Banerjee
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel and York University, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
The paper presents a preliminary investigation of the press coverage of family assisted suicide in Britain during the 1990s. It aims to typify basic characteristics of the coverage and to explore their potential political implications. The observations reveal a consistently supportive stance towards family assisted suicide that is shown to be produced by depictions of the dying persons and the perpetrators as autonomous and conscientious individuals; by idyllic portrayals of family relations; and by praising judges for their lenient verdicts. Presentations of the law as a dated State system, as well as marginalization of opposing voices, further enhanced the supportive message. We suggest that the commending of actors’ self-reliance and the call for decreased State interference in personal affairs aligns with the neo-liberal spirit that has come into prominence in Britain since the 1980s. Within this context, we raise some questions regarding the broader political significance of such media representations.
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