Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Suicide is commonly described as an urgent health concern and tragedy afflicting Indigenous communities in Canada. This work aimed to develop more contextual understandings of complex death, specifically Indigenous youth deaths by suicide that considered social, economic, historical, ecological, and political factors. This work centered the voices of an often-overlooked demographic, urban-based Indigenous youth, and utilized qualitative methodology that included thematic analysis of archival interview data conducted with Indigenous youth wellness facilitators in British Columbia, Canada. Thematic analysis identified multiple socio-political, historical, and colonial factors that contribute to Indigenous youth challenges with suicidality, and mental health. Furthermore, Indigenous youth in the study conceptualized wellbeing in a manner that resisted psychocentrism and described creative, institutional, and structural interventions that are key to promoting a livable life. Critical implications of this work are discussed, particularly, regarding the roles of the psy-disciplines (psychology and psychiatry) in preventing Indigenous youth suicide in Canada.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Shanna Peltier
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3205008588