CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Suicide is a major cause of death across the

world. Self-harm refers to a deliberate non-fatal act,
whether physical, drug overdose, or poisoning, carried out
in the knowledge that it is potentially harmful. Suicidal
behavior is complex. Some risk factors vary with age, gender and
ethnic group and may even change over time. The risk factors for
suicide frequently occur in combination. Research has shown that
90 percent of people who kill themselves have depression or
another diagnosable mental or substance abuse disorder.

Adverse life events in combination with other strong

risk factors, such as depression, may lead to suicide.
Suicide and suicidal behavior, however, are not normal
responses to the stresses experienced by most people. Most
people who experience one or more risk factors do not become
suicidal. Other risk factors include: Prior suicide
attempt,Family history of mental or substance abuse
disorder,Family history of suicide,Family violence,
including physical or sexual abuse,Firearms in the
home,Incarceration and Exposure to the suicidal behavior of
others, including family members, peers or via the media in
news or fiction stories.

Suicide’s effects are tragic and felt long after the

individual has taken his or her own life. It is usually the
second or third leading cause of death among teenagers, and
remains one of the top ten leading causes of death well into
middle age. A person who dies by suicide leaves behind them
a tangled confusion of family members and friends who try to
make sense of a senseless and purposeless act.

Most people who think about suicide, however, never

make a “serious” attempt at it (every attempt, though, is
viewed as “serious” by the person making it). For every
attempted suicide, there is thought to be one or more people
where the thought of suicide has never translated into an
actual attempt. With over a half a million people making a
suicidal attempt each year, this translates into a huge
problem that society largely ignores or tries to sweep under
the rug. Prevention efforts largely target teenagers, but
few professionals feel comfortable dealing with people who
are actively suicidal. In most communities, the health care
system also is not well-equipped to deal with the magnitude
of the problem or the specific needs of a person who is
suicidal.

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of this study was to determine the Level of

Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas
City as Evaluated by the Community. Specifically, this study
sought to answer the following questions:
1. what are the level of awareness of the factors causing
suicide incidents in Roxas city when classified according to
residence?
2.Is there a significant difference in the level of
Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to civil status?
3.Is there a significant difference in the level of
Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to Age?
4. Is there a significant difference in the level of
Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to gender?
5. Is there a significant difference in the level of
Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to educational attainment?
6. Is there a significant difference in the level of
Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to occupation?

Hypothesis

To answer the foregoing questions, the researchers advanced

the following null hypothesis:

1.There is no significant difference in the level of

awareness of the factors causing suicide incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to residence.
2.There is no significant difference in the level of
awareness of the factors causing suicide incidents in Roxas
City when classified according to their personal related
 variable such as civil status, age, gender, educational
attainment, occupation.

Theoretical Framework
The interpersonal theory of suicide attempts to explain why
individuals engage in suicidal behavior and to identify
individuals who are at risk. It was developed by Thomas
Joiner and is outlined in Why People Die By Suicide.The
theory consists of three components that together lead to
suicide attempts. According to the theory, the simultaneous
presence of thwarted belongingness and
perceived burdensomeness produce the desire for suicide.
While the desire for suicide is necessary, it alone will not
result in death by suicide. Rather, Joiner asserts that one
must also have acquired capability (that is, the acquired
ability) to overcome one's natural fear of death.
A number of risk factors have been linked to suicidal
behavior, and there are many theories of suicide that
integrate these established risk factors, but few are
capable of explaining all of the phenomena associated with
suicidal behavior as the interpersonal theory of suicide
does. Another strength of this theory lies in its ability to
be tested empirically. It is constructed in a way that
allows for falsifiability. A number of studies have found at
least partial support for the interpersonal theory of
suicide. Specifically, a systematic review of 66 studies
using the interpersonal theory of suicide found that the
effect of perceived burdensomeness on suicide ideation was
the most tested and supported relationship. The theory’s
other predictions, particularly in terms of critical
interaction effects, are less strongly supported.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 showed the paradigm which provided the conceptual

framework of this study, This was conducted to determine the
Level of Awareness of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents
in Roxas City as evaluated by the Community.
The independent variables considered in this study
will be the personal-related variables of the respondents
such as civil status, age, gender, educational attainment,
occupation.
The dependent variables were the Level of Awareness of the
Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas City as Evaluated
by the Community.

Research Paradigm
 Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Socio demographic Level of awareness

factors of the factors causing

 Civil Status suicide incidents in

 Age roxas city as evaluated
 Gender by the community
 Educational Attainment
 Occupation

Figure 1. schematic Diagram showed the hypothesis difference

between the Independent and Dependent Variables.

Significance of the Study

The results of this study were useful to the following:

Residents. The findings of the study will help them to be

aware what are the factors that causing suicide incidents
and to prevent future suicide incident.

Students. The Findings of the study will help the students

particularly in Roxas City this study will help them to be
able understand about suicide and to avoid them committing
suicide.

Future Researchers. This study may serve as a reference

and can contribute a broad understanding to the future
researchers who plan to conduct a similar study.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study was limited to finding out Level of Awareness

of the Factors Causing Suicide Incidents in selected
Barangay of Roxas City.

The independent variables were the socio-demographic

factors (i.e., civil status, age, gender, educational
attainment, occupation) of the respondents while the
dependent variable was the Level of Awareness of the Factors
Causing Suicide Incidents in Roxas City as Evaluated by the
Community.

The descriptive research design was utilized in this

study. The instrument used in gathering data was a survey
questionnaire.
The data was tallied and interpreted using statistical
tools such as frequency count, mean, percentage, t-test, and
one way ANOVA.

Definition of Terms

Some terms in the study will be defined conceptually and

operationally.

Suicide. is the act of intentionally causing one's

own death.] Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar
disorder, autism spectrum
disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety
disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue
syndrome) and substance use disorders (including alcohol use
disorder and the use of and withdrawal from benzodiazepines)
are risk factors. Some suicides are impulsive acts due to
stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties),
relationship problems (such as breakups or deaths of close
ones), or harassment/bullying. Those who have previously
attempted suicide are at a higher risk for future attempts.
Effective suicide prevention efforts include limiting access
to methods of suicide—such as firearms, drugs, and poisons;
treating mental disorders and substance misuse;
careful media reporting about suicide; and improving
economic conditions. Even though crisis hotlines are common,
they have not been well studied.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide).
Community.  Is a social unit (a group of living things)
with commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs,
or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated
in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town,
or neighbourhood) or in virtual space through communication
platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate
genealogical ties also define a sense of community,
important to their identity, practice, and roles in
social institutions such as family, home, work, government,
society, or humanity at large.[1] Although communities are
usually small relative to personal social ties, "community"
may also refer to large group affiliations such as national
communities, international communities, and virtual
communities. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community).
 Awareness. the quality or state of being aware,
knowledge and understanding that something is happening or
exists. (https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/awareness).

Chapter 11

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presented foreign and local literature and

studies that were of great help in the pursuit of this
undertaking. These literature contained ideas and concepts
that have special bearing on this study.

Foreign Studies

Suicide remains a major global cause of mortality . Suicide rates in Japan

are high, and suicide remains one of the ten highest causes of death in
Japan . Although suicide rates have been declining over time , there are
significant variations in patterns of suicide mortality by occupation and
rates remain particularly high among working-age men . Workplace stress and
economic change have been suggested as particularly important causes of the
high rate of suicide in Japan, along with particular social and cultural
factors that may differ from other nations in Asia, such as patterns of
group suicide and particular cultural attitudes towards suicide .
The role of workplace stress in suicide in Japan and the high prevalence of
suicide mortality among working-age professional and managerial roles
potentially raises the risk of suicide among non-Japanese who migrate to
Japan. In the past 10 years, the number of foreigners entering Japan for
work has increased, reaching the highest number ever in 2017 , and the
government continues to ease visa restrictions to increase the number of
long-term migrants entering Japan . As the number of migrants moving to
Japan to work continues to increase, and more migrants settle for longer in
Japan, their risk of suicide may increase relative to their home countries,
and the Japanese health system may begin to face an increasing burden of
suicide-related care for these people. Currently, however, little is known
about the suicide risk facing foreigners in Japan. Foreigners in Japan face
particular challenges to the management of their physical and psychological
health, in particular due to cultural differences and language barriers ,
but also challenges due to marginalization, racism, and exclusion, which
can be alleviated through social networks and psychosocial support . In
this context, research about the rate of suicide mortality among foreigners
in Japan, and comparison with rates in the home country of foreign
residents, is important to understand how suicide risk differs in
foreigners living in Japan. One recent study calculated age-standardized
suicide rates in Japan and compared them with age-standardized rates in the
home country of the non-Japanese nationals living in Japan but this
comparison was incomplete because the study did not standardize the
mortality rate of the deaths in Japan relative to those in the foreign
residents’ home countries. Since migrant populations in Japan are likely to
be younger, working, and potentially have a different gender distribution
to the populations of their home countries, it is important to standardize
mortality rates in these populations in Japan against those of their home
country in order to properly understand the risks they face. This study
uses data on the most recent five years of mortality data in Japan to:
Estimate age-standardized suicide mortality rates among major nationalities
of foreigners living in Japan and compare them to age-standardized suicide
mortality rates of Japanese nationals; Estimate age-standardized suicide
mortality rates for foreigners in Japan using the population of their home
nation as reference, to compare the suicide risk of foreigners living in
Japan with the risk they would have experienced in their home country;
Describe patterns in age- and sex-specific mortality among foreigners
living in Japan using a comprehensive Poisson loglinear regression model.
This study provides improved insight into whether foreigners in Japan
retain the suicide rate of their home country, converge to the Japanese
suicide rate, or experience a new mortality pattern unlike that of their
home or their host country. This information will help to understand
whether suicide mortality presents a social contagion risk to people
migrating to countries with high suicide rates and also help to identify
potential strategies to reduce suicide mortality in Japan.
This research used mortality data for the period 2012–2016 to compare
suicide mortality rates for Japanese nationals and foreigners resident in
Japan. We calculated average crude mortality rates over the five-year
period and also standardized mortality rates using both the 2015 Japan
population and the 2015 population of the origin country of nationals
living in Japan. This calculation enabled us to show both how mortality
rates for foreigners compare to the Japanese population after adjusting for
their different age distribution and how mortality rates compare to their
home country, after adjusting for the likely differences in age structure
of nationals of those countries who have migrated to Japan.
We found that suicide mortality among Korean nationals living in Japan is
significantly higher than that of Japanese nationals, even after adjusting
for age, and that the mortality rate for these nationals is also
significantly higher than it would be if they had remained in Korea. By
contrast, Chinese nationals living in Japan have lower suicide mortality
rates than Japanese after adjusting for age, and their suicide mortality
rate is not significantly different than that of their home country.
Nationals of other countries in Japan have lower suicide mortality rates
than Japanese nationals, and their suicide mortality rate is also lower
than the global rate after standardization. These patterns held for men and
women and suggest that suicide mortality in Koreans resident in Japan is
significantly elevated relative to their home country, while there is no
change in Chinese, and lower rates in foreigners from other nations. The
increase in standardized suicide mortality rates for Koreans was large,
rising from 36.3 to 46.3 per 100,000 in men and from 15.5 to 24.1 per
100,000 in women. After adjustment for age in a Poisson regression model,
Korean women had more than twice the risk of suicide mortality as Japanese
women, and this risk was approximately constant across the entire adult age
range.
The reasons for this increase in suicide risk among Koreans living in Japan
are not clear. Previous comparisons of suicide risk in Japan and Korea have
found a rapidly increasing suicide rate among Korean women and changing
gender ratios in the suicide patterns of Koreans , but limited explanation
for why this pattern of suicide might be changing. A previous study
suggested that higher suicide rates among Koreans may be partially a
consequence of discrimination . Koreans living in Japan experience a unique
history of discrimination and marginalization connected to the forced
residence of many Koreans in Japan after the colonial period in the first
half of the 20th century, and special Japanese cultural and political
attitudes towards this population (commonly referred to
as zainichi Koreans) in the Japanese polity . Koreans are unique among all
foreigners living in Japan in that a significant portion of the total
population of Koreans living in Japan were born in Japan. Data from the
Ministry of Justice in 2018 shows that 66% of Koreans living in Japan are
in the special permanent resident visa category, compared to just 0.1% of
Chinese. This visa is granted to foreigners with ancestry related to
Japan’s former colonies, and the very high proportion of Koreans with this
visa class reflects the special historical situation of zainichi Koreans in
Japan. Given that 66% of Korean residents in Japan are zainichi, it is
likely that most of the suicides recorded as being “Korean” in the ministry
of health vital registration data actually are deaths of 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-
generation Koreans who have been unable to adopt Japanese citizenship, and
not migrants from their home country living and working temporarily in
Japan; this special status of many Koreans may be a particular source of
stress and mental illness compared to other nationalities living in Japan,
with consequences for suicide risk in this population. Their situation
stands in stark contrast to the mortality rates of other nationalities in
Japan, which appear to be reduced relative to the global average, possibly
because of the benefits of moving to a comparatively wealthier country with
universal health coverage (UHC).
The data used in our study do not provide information on the length of time
that the individuals were settled in Japan, so it is not possible to draw
any conclusions about the time between arrival in Japan and suicide
mortality. This information could be important for Chinese and nationals of
other countries in particular, since the vast majority of these groups were
adult migrants to Japan, and the length of time between arrival and suicide
death is relevant to making policy about suicide prevention for these
groups. More research on the detailed life trajectory of adult foreigners
in Japan who commit suicide after migration is needed to inform better
suicide prevention policy for migrants in Japan. Since it is known that
psychiatric problems and mental health are strongly associated with suicide
risk, it is important to conduct further research on the mental health
issues of new migrants to Japan, and also their ability to access
appropriate psychiatric and psychological care while in Japan. Conversely,
there is some evidence of a healthy migrant effect in some migrants coming
to Japan, though it is not clear this applies to suicide specifically .
This effect could also not be explored in this study, and without detailed
personal information in a high-quality study focused on mental health and
suicide risk, it remains unclear to what extent migrants from China or
other countries have self-selected for better health.
Koreans and Chinese are the largest two migrant populations in Japan and
constitute the bulk of non-Japanese suicide deaths in this study. It is
noteworthy that their suicide mortality rates have increased or not changed
relative to their home countries, even though they are living in a country
that is world-renowned for having very good health outcomes . This may
partially reflect the stresses related to migration and adaptation, but it
may also arise from shortcomings in Japan’s suicide prevention policies.
Since 2006, Japan has had a strong suicide prevention policy framework ,
age-specific suicide rates have been falling consistently over the past 20
years , as have rates of self-harm , but the Basic Act for Suicide
Prevention does not specify any particular activities or interventions
targeted at marginalized groups in Japan, including migrants. The
countermeasures described in the act are extensive and based on evidence
but include a wide range of activities focused around reporting of risk
behavior and engagement of community social capital, which may be difficult
for marginalized groups to benefit from. In particular for migrants, who
often lack language skills and may not have the same rights to employment
and housing security as Japanese nationals, the focus of current Japanese
suicide prevention activities on the engagement of social capital and
community support for suicide prevention may not be as effective. Given the
high rate of suicide mortality particularly among Korean nationals living
in Japan and the limited change observed in Chinese nationals, the
government should consider expanding and enhancing the current suicide
countermeasures in place in Japan to include a specific focus on migrants
and non-Japanese, and additional effort to adapt suicide prevention policy
to cover marginalized groups in Japan, including but not limited to foreign
residents. Furthermore, the extremely high rate of suicide in Koreans
living in Japan needs to be recognized and additional efforts made to
counter discrimination against and marginalization of Koreans living in
Japan. This should include renewed efforts to normalize the citizenship
status of multigenerational zainichi Koreans and further efforts to reduce
discrimination and end hate speech. Detailed investigation is also needed
of the reasons for the high rate of suicide amongst Koreans resident in
Japan, and a better understanding of the particular factors that put them
at risk.

Local Studies

The Philippines has had its share of high-profile cases of

suicide. From the start of the new millennium to the current
year, for example, there is at least one case of suicide covered
by various forms of media such as newspapers, television
reports, and articles on the World Wide Web every two years.
Reported cases of suicide range from individual attempts like
Alexander Robert Santiago‟s in 2003 (Esperas, 2003) to those
which involve a whole household such as the case of a
FilipinoTaiwanese family of five in 2015 (Alquitran, 2015). The
demographics of suicide cases are also varied. Some cases
involve the young such as Kristel Tejada‟s (Punay, 2013),
elderly as in the case of Rod Strunk (MacMurchy, 2007), the
wealthy and powerful like Angelo Reyes (McGeown, 2011), the poor
and marginalized like Rosanna Sanfuego (Dullana, 2015). There
are also noticeable variations in their methods of committing
suicide, with some choosing a violent method such as Failon‟s
wife (Trinidad Etong) use of a firearm (Meruenas, 2009) and non-
violent means such as the case above of the mass-suicide in the
Filipino-Taiwanese household (Hsieh family). There are also
differences in the reasons for suicide that include family
problems such as the case of the former beauty queen and actress
Maria Teresa Carlson (Lo, 2001), and economic collapse like in
the case of Urban Bank President, Teodoro Borlongan (Alquitran &
Torres, 2005). The reasons also include academic problems such
as Liam Madamba‟s (Brizuela, 2015), and prejudice and
discrimination such as Julia Buencamino‟s (Corrales, 2015). It
is noteworthy that some of these reasons are attributions done
by other people and are not provided by the suicide victims
themselves. This situation is occurring because while there are
those who leave behind what people often regard as “suicide
notes” like Buencamino (Bonoan, 2015), there are also several
cases of suicide which do not have any notes of such nature for
finding out the cause of suicide. The challenge to explain the
causes of suicide and predict its occurrence has been taken on
by scholars from different fields. Though the phenomenon is
often a topic under the domain of Psychology, there have been
several efforts to theorize about suicide in the disciplines of
Biology, Anthropology, Economics, and Sociology. Suicide is a
phenomenon of great historical importance to Sociology. It was
in a classical study of suicide that Emile Durkheim argued to
the scientific community that what was perceived to be a social
problem answerable only by Psychology can be explained by the
proposed discipline of Sociology (Ritzer, 2014). In his
discussion of the social facts that influence people into
committing suicidal acts, Durkheim identified four types of
suicide which differ in their degrees of (a) social integration,
which binds people into society through the social norms and
values of the group, and (b) social regulation, which restricts
people‟s behavior by prescribing specific goals and the means to
attain these goals (Pickering, 2001; Ritzer, 2014). These four
types of suicide according to Durkheim are as follows: (a)
Egoistic Suicide, which is brought about by insufficient social
integration among the members of society; (b) Anomic Suicide,
which is brought about by a lack of social regulation in society
due to rapid changes to which people are hardpressed to adapt
to; (c) Fatalistic Suicide, which is brought about by high
social regulation in society, leading to a person‟s perception
of being trapped without any form of escape except through
suicide; and (d) Altruistic Suicide, which is brought about by
high social integration in society which convinces people that
there is nothing wrong with dying if it means the betterment of
society. Since Durkheim‟s pioneering work, there is already a
wealth of sociological and socio-psychological theories that
Suicidology has been utilizing. These theories are those of
Halbwach (Travis, 1990), Pescosolido (1990), Masaryk (Lester,
1997), Stack (2000), Joiner (2007), and Gibbs and Martin
(Fernquist, 2009). More recent, are the theories of Henry and
Short (Wray et al., 2011), Tarde (Abrutyn & Mueller, 2014), Gold
(Douglas, 2015), Gibbs and Porterfield (Douglas, 2015). While
these theories were able to identify some potential predictors
of suicide, they are often middle-range theories which focused
on the connection between one or a handful of variables and
suicide rather than a comprehensive listing of the potential
predictors. Robert Agnew‟s General Strain Theory starts out with
the attempt to determine the external factors in the form of
“strains” which can push people into committing acts of deviance
(Link et al., 2016). Travis Hirschi‟s Social Bonds theory, on
the other hand, starts out with the premise that people are
naturally hedonistic and would seek maximum pleasure at the
minimum amount of pain (Hirschi, 2002). In light of this
hedonistic nature of individuals, Hirschi proposed that only
societal bonds are capable of controlling people‟s behavior when
they feel inclined to engage in criminal and deviant acts. These
two theories are used mainly to understand crime and delinquency
instead of the phenomenon of suicide, but several fundamental
premises of these theories present an interesting combination
which may be useful for identifying predictors of suicidal
ideation. This synthetic theoretical framework may help account
for factors that increase people‟s chances of suicide and
factors that decrease people‟s chances of suicide akin to a
push-pull tug-of-war dynamic. There are two independent
variables and one dependent variable in this theoretical
framework. The first independent variable is called “Strains”
that are expected to increase the likelihood of the dependent
variable, suicide ideation or the experience of having thought
of committing suicide. Three types of strain included in this
framework which Agnew argued might predispose people into
deviant behavior (Agnew, 1992) are the following: (1)
failure to achieve positively valued goods, (2) removal of
positively valued stimuli, and (3) confrontation with
negative stimuli. The first type of strain pertains to the
traditional Merton concept of social strain wherein the
person is unable to achieve the culturallylegitimate goals,
resulting in a disparity between achievement and
aspirations. This situation could become more strenuous when
the person realizes that the goals are not only unreachable
at present but are not even within one‟s capability to
achieve. An example of strain under this typology is the
failure to obtain high monetary rewards for one‟s life or
inability to finish one‟s aspired level of education. The
second type of strain is brought about by dramatic
experiences of loss in a person‟s life most pronounced
during the earlier half of the individual‟s life
particularly during the adolescent and young adult years.
Included in this typology are strains brought about by the
loss of loved ones and dissolution of valued relationships.
The third type of strain is also most pronounced during the
earlier part of a person‟s life when an individual is
exposed to negative experiences that have a powerful impact
on the future of a person. Experiences of child abuse and
interpersonal violence, whether verbal or physical in nature
are examples of this type of strain. In addition to the
types of strain identified in Agnew‟s theory, the negative
internal state is one of the factors that increase people‟s
chances of suicide. Negative internal state here pertains
primarily to two things: a negative or low evaluation of
one‟s self-worth (self-esteem), and depression – both of
which have been noted in previous studies to be associated
with suicide but are not explicitly accounted for in Agnew‟s
existing formulation of his theory. The other independent
variable of the framework, the “Social Bonds,” is expected
to reduce people‟s chances of suicide. These Social Bonds
are borrowed from Hirschi‟s theory proposed in 1969
(Schroeder, 2016). For Hirschi, four factors that keep
people living according to societal norms influence people‟s
decision to commit criminal behavior. While criminal
behavior may allow the person to achieve the desired
benefit, they refrain from doing so because it might entail
sacrificing or losing the four factors – all of which are
assumed to be considered important by the person. The first
factor is the attachment to other members of society. For
Hirschi, the emotional closeness of people to the other
members of society, particularly the family and, to a lesser
degree, other agents in society such as peers and the school
limit the tendency of people to commit crime because doing
so would risk jeopardizing these interpersonal
relationships. The greater the emotional closeness the
person has to his or her family and friends, the lesser the
likelihood that the person would be willing to sacrifice
losing these attachments. Commitment to traditional types of
action and goals is the second factor considered by Hirschi.
As a person continues to live as part of society, he or she
becomes increasingly committed to the achievement of
conventional goals of that society. Examples of these goals
are the attainment of higher education, finding a job,
getting married and having one‟s family of procreation. As
the person achieves more of these conventional goals or
becomes closer to making them, he or she will not risk
losing or jeopardizing them all by becoming a criminal. Out
of the four bonds, this is the element that serves as the
most rational social bond. It operates under the social
psychology of sunk cost (Arkes & Blumer, 1985). The third
factor is the involvement in traditional activities. As the
person becomes more involved with socially-prescribed
activities, they would have fewer chances to plan and
execute criminal behavior due to sheer lack of time. It
operates under the adage, “idle hands are the devil‟s
playground.” The fourth factor is the belief in the
normative values of society. This element operates under the
sociopsychological premise that people‟s attitudes are
influential in people‟s behavior. Belief in the values
prescribed by society makes one less likely to commit
actions that contradict these normative values. When these
normative beliefs are weakened, people‟s tendency for
deviant behavior increases. The World Health Organization
(WHO) has identified suicide as a major social problem that
claims a life every 40 seconds. All over the world, the 15th
leading cause of death for 2012 is suicide, accounting for
around 800,000 deaths worldwide yearly, with South East
Asian regions comprising a third of the annual rate, and the
2nd, if the cohort in focus is the youth population aged 15
to 29 years old (Vila, 2014). Data from recent years also
point to the increasing number of suicide cases in the
Philippines. In a study analyzing the trends of deaths
suspected to be caused by suicide in the Philippines from
1974 to 2005, Redaniel et al. (2011) reported that the
incidence of suicide has increased for both gender from 1984
to 2005. The increase ranged from 0.23 to 3.59 suicides per
100,000 men and from 0.12 to 1.09 per 100,000 women in the
population. The Department of Health (DOH) has also reported
that in 2003, intentional self-harm, which is often
associated with suicide as a form of euphemism (Department
of Health, 2011a), was the 9th leading cause of death among
Filipinos aged 20-24 years old. Suicide also was the cause
of death of 34% of all deaths among Filipinos aged 10-24
during the year above (Department of Health, 2011b). A
recent report further stated that approximately seven
Filipinos try to commit suicide every day (Butuyan, 2016).
In a nationally representative survey of Filipino youth aged
15-24 years old last 2013, five regions of the Philippines
(NCR, CARAGA, Regions VII, X, and XI) have at least 10% of
their respective 15-24-year-old population experiencing
suicide ideation. These regions also experienced an increase
of suicide attempts in the past ten years among those who
have thought of committing suicide (YAFS 4 - Young Adult
Fertility and Sexuality Study 4). In an attempt to
understand suicide ideation among the youth in the
Philippine context, this study aimed to identify the
significant predictors of suicide ideation among the
Filipino youth using the findings from a nationally
representative survey of Filipinos aged 15 to 27 years old.
This study provides an opportunity to check the predictive
capabilities of societal and individual factors identified
in the wealth of literature on empirical studies on the
phenomenon. This study deviates from the practice of
focusing only on individual-level data in the study of
predictors of suicide (Voss, 2007). Instead, it combines
both individual- as well as community-level data in the hope
of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of suicide
predictors in the context of the Filipino youth. In this
study, the influence of societal and individual factors on
suicide was fitted under a theoretical framework derived
from the synthesis of two theories of deviance: Robert
Agnew‟s General Strain Theory (1992) and Travis Hirschi‟s
Social Bonds Theory (1969). Hence, this study proposes an
addition to the wealth of theories on Suicidology by using a
synthetic theoretical framework not often utilized or
specifically-designed for Suicidology.

Chapter 111

Methodology

This chapter presents the method of research to be used,

the respondents, the instruments including its validity and
reability, the manner of fielding, gathering, and processing
procedure, the statistical tools to be used for the analysis
and interpretation of data.
 Place of the Study

This study was conducted at selected Barangay in Roxas

City.

Purpose of the Study

This study was conducted to determine the Level of

Awareness of the Factors causing suicide incidents in roxas
city as evaluated by the community for the calendar year
2020-2021.

Respondent of the Study

The respondent of this study is the selected person in the

selected Brgy.of Roxas, City.

Table 1. Socio-demographic profile of the respondent.

Variables Frequency

Percentage

Age

50 years old and above

40 to 49 years old
30 to 39 years old
29 years old and below

Total

Sex

Male

Female

Total

Civil Status

Single

Married

Widow
 Legally Separated

Total

Educational Attainment

Ph. D. Graduate

Masters graduate

College graduate

High School Graduate

Elementary Graduate

Research Design

This study will use the survey and descriptive method.

According to Calmorin (2006), the descriptive type of study
finds answer to the questions who, what, when, where and
how. It describes a situation or a give set of affairs in
terms of specified aspects or factors. A descriptive study
seeks to describe the situation as it is.

This research design was deemed appropriate for this

particular study since it main concern was to determine the
level of awareness of the factors causing suicide incident
in Roxas City.

Research Instrument

The instrument used in gathering data was a survey

questionnaire composes of two parts. The first part will
gather the socio – demographic profile of respondents such
as sex, age, civil status, educational attainment and
occupation. The second part consisted of questions that
evaluate the level of awareness of the factors causing
suicide incident in Roxas, City.

Validity and Reliability of Questioner

The survey questionnaire was initially submitted to the
member of examining committee for checking the consistency
of the question contained to ensure that the item can elicit
the needed information to answer the study. After the
suggestion were incorporated in the questioner it was then
subjected to content validation to a panel of experts
composes of two (2) parts with the collaboration of the
researcher’s thesis advisory.
 Thee survey questioner was submitted to the examining
committee for the face content validation. Each items of the
questioner were examined and analyzed. The items that were
found to be too difficult or to easy either revised or
eliminated the acceptance or rejection of each items, as
well as the questioner was be done by the deliberation and
assessment. comment, suggestion, and corrections were made
to make the items closer to the answer of the questions.

Data Gathering Procedure

Necessary permits were secured for the conduct of the

study. The researchers personally distribute and retrieve
the questionnaire to and from the respondents. The gathered
will be tallied, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using
descriptive and inferential statistics.