Sociological research on suicide has tended to favour functionalist approaches, and quantitative methods. This paper argues for an alternative engagement - drawing on interpretive paradigms, and inspired by 'live' methodologies, we make an argument for a haunted sociology of suicide. This approach, informed by Avery Gordon's haunted sociological imagination and Lauren Berlant's concept of slow death, works between the structural realities of inequalities in suicide rates and the more (in)tangible affects of suicide as they are lived. These theoretical engagements are illustrated through an empirical study which used collaborative, arts-based discussion groups about suicide. The groups were held with 14 people, all affected in different ways by suicide, and attending a community-based mental health centre in a semi-rural location in Scotland, UK. A narrative-informed analysis of data generated through these groups shows the creative potential of both arts-based methodologies, and interpretive sociologies, in deepening understanding of how inequalities in rates of suicide may be experienced and made sense of. We illustrate this via two related metaphors ('the point' and 'the edge') which recurred in the data. Our analysis underlines the vital relevance of sociology to suicide studies - and the urgent need for diverse sociological engagement and action on this topic.

中文翻译：

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作为缓慢死亡的自杀：迈向困扰的自杀社会学。


关于自杀的社会学研究倾向于功能主义方法和定量方法。本文主张另一种参与 - 借鉴解释范式，并受到 “现场 ”方法的启发，我们为困扰的自杀社会学提出了论点。这种方法受到艾弗里·戈登 （Avery Gordon） 令人难以忘怀的社会学想象和劳伦·伯兰特 （Lauren Berlant） 的缓慢死亡概念的启发，在自杀率不平等的结构性现实与自杀生活中更（不）有形的影响之间发挥作用。这些理论参与通过一项实证研究来说明，该研究使用了关于自杀的协作、基于艺术的讨论小组。这些小组与 14 人举行，他们都以不同的方式受到自杀的影响，并在英国苏格兰一个半农村地区的社区心理健康中心就读。对通过这些团体生成的数据进行叙述性分析，显示了基于艺术的方法和解释性社会学在加深对如何体验和理解自杀率不平等的理解方面的创造性潜力。我们通过两个在数据中反复出现的相关隐喻（“点”和“边”）来说明这一点。我们的分析强调了社会学与自杀研究的重要相关性——以及迫切需要对这一主题进行多元化的社会学参与和行动。