BackgroundResearch has demonstrated that exposure to suicide can lead to increased vulnerability for self-harm or suicide. As a result, ideation-to-action models of suicide recognise exposure as a significant risk factor which may be implicated in the translation of thoughts into actions. However, few studies have tested this theoretical link explicitly within an adolescent population, and examined how it compares to other types of bereavements.MethodsA 6-month prospective questionnaire study was conducted with 185 Scottish adolescents aged 11–17. The questionnaire included measures on (...) experiences with bereavement and lifetime engagement in self-harm, as well as measures of defeat, entrapment, social support, coping, and other psychological variables.ResultsAt baseline, 11% of young people reported exposure to a suicide death, and 62% to a non-suicide death. In addition, 21% of pupils reported ever engaging in self-harm, while 24% had experienced self-harm ideation without engaging in it. Cross-sectional multivariate logistic regressions showed that maladaptive coping, family social support, glorifying/normalising beliefs about suicide, and family self-harm were significantly associated with self-harm group membership. At follow-up, 9% of pupils reported exposure to a suicide death and 11% to a non-suicide death for the first time. A total of 29% of the sample reported self-harm at T2, and 23% reported self-harm ideation without engaging in it. Multivariate analyses found that stigmatising beliefs about suicide, glorifying/normalising beliefs about suicide, and self-harm ideation at baseline were the only variables to predict self-harm group membership prospectively. Bereavement experiences, whether by suicide or non-suicide, did not predict self-harm group status at baseline nor at follow-up.ConclusionsThis study provides support for the validity of a theoretical model of suicide, even though predictive ability over the 6-months period was limited. Although difficulties with recruitment may have limited the statistical power, this study provides insight into the prevalence and experiences of suicide bereavement among adolescents and the factors related to the onset and maintenance of self-harm. (shrink)

This essay examines the connections between dress, religion, and gender, specifically, contextual practices and underlying beliefs concerning dress among women in Tuareg communities of Niger and Mali, West Africa, who speak a Berber language, Tamajaq, predominantly adhere to Islam, are semi-nomadic, socially stratified, and display influences from pre- and popular Islamic, nation-state, and global forces. The Tuareg data reveals both common themes and inter- and intra-cultural variations in Muslim women’s dress, thereby challenging monolithic interpretations of women’s dress in Islamic communities.More (...) broadly, the essay calls for attention to the contested meanings of dress in terms of its special semiotic qualities: it is portable, can be disassembled and reassembled, and can be subtly re-arranged to convey ambiguous but powerful meanings that are neither unitary or stable. (shrink)

This essay analyzes the role of a famous Tuareg musical band named Tinariwen in public media representations of the Tuareg cultural predicament. There is a dual focus: on representations internationally in global media and performances, specifically in the US on television and the internet, on the one hand, and on the other, in local media and performances, specifically in the town of Kidal, Mali. In these different contexts, these musicians reflexively represent their own and more general Tuareg cultural identities and (...) predicaments differently, to diverse audiences. Their representations have also changed over time, during alternating armed conflicts and peace initiatives in northern Mali. This essay explores the background, meanings, and consequences of these mediated performances of signifying practices as narratives of nation and imagined communities. (shrink)

This essay analyzes the role of a famous Tuareg musical band named Tinariwen in public media representations of the Tuareg cultural predicament. There is a dual focus: on representations internationally in global media and performances, specifically in the US on television and the internet, on the one hand, and on the other, in local media and performances, specifically in the town of Kidal, Mali. In these different contexts, these musicians reflexively represent their own and more general Tuareg cultural identities and (...) predicaments differently, to diverse audiences. Their representations have also changed over time, during alternating armed conflicts and peace initiatives in northern Mali. This essay explores the background, meanings, and consequences of these mediated performances of signifying practices as narratives of nation and imagined communities. (shrink)