Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1985

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Sociology

Major Professor

Suzanne B. Kurth

Committee Members

Robert J. Perrin, James A. Black

Abstract

Media presentations of a contemporary social problem, adolescent suicide, are examined from 1953 to 1982. Various conceptualizations of the "emergence" of social problems ascribe an important role to the media as disseminators of particular groups' definitions of issues as social problems. Presentations in two print media are compared to explore the amount and type of information presented to different audiences.

Popular magazine articles indexed in The Readers'Guide to Periodical Literature and social science articles listed in The Sociological Abstracts were the media presentations analyzed. The study period was designed to begin stortly before actions by policy makers indicated adolescent suicide was emerging as a social problem and to include the most recent year for which all necessary information could be obtained.

All articles on adolescent (student, childhood) suicide were analyzed using content analysis. Coding categories were developed based on a review of literature on adolescence, suicide, and content analysis, as well as a preliminary review of articles on adolescent suicide. The researcher coded all articles. Validity was checked by coding placement with another rater.

The popular medium focused attention on adolescent suicide substantially earlier than the social science medium. Popular interest in adolescent suicide increased relatively steadily over the study period, as measured by number and length of articles. Professional interest was slower to develop and did not grow as rapidly until the 1970s using the same measures.

Efforts to medicalize the social problem were pronounced in early popular magazine articles and social science articles. Mental health professionals often were presented as "experts" on the problem.

Information presented in popular media addressed general and specific audiences of parents, teachers, and adolescents, while professional articles either addressed mental health practitioners or teacher-researchers.

The causes of adolescent suicide proposed in popular and social science periodicals changed with the political and social climate in the society. The efforts of special groups appeared to be less important in the definition of the social problem than the general social climate.

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