ArticleInternational journal of circumpolar health2015
"We are like lemmings": making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden.
Article in International journal of circumpolar health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- A protocol for collaborative research to understand protection, recovery, and resilience after youth suicide attempt in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).International journal of circumpolar health · 2026Article
- The association between suicide attempts and ethnic identity and discrimination among Indigenous Sami adolescents in Arctic Norway.International journal of circumpolar health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with healthcare avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic among the Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study.International journal of circumpolar health · 2023Article
- The association between suicidal behaviour and violence, sexual abuse, and parental substance abuse among Sami and Greenlandic adolescents: the WBYG study and the NAAHS.Scandinavian journal of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology · 2023Article
- "All I expect is that they accept that I am a Sami"International journal of circumpolar health · 2022Article
- "Mapping suicide prevention initiatives targeting Indigenous Sámi in Nordic countries".BMC public health · 2021Article
- Suicide among reindeer herding Sámi in Sweden, 1961-2017.International journal of circumpolar health · 2020Article
- "If you do not birget [manage] then you don't belong here": a qualitative focus group study on the cultural meanings of suicide among Indigenous Sámi in arctic Norway.International journal of circumpolar health · 2019Article
- The Holistic Effects of Climate Change on the Culture, Well-Being, and Health of the Saami, the Only Indigenous People in the European Union.Current environmental health reports · 2018Review
- Childhood violence and mental health among indigenous Sami and non-Sami populations in Norway: a SAMINOR 2 questionnaire study.International journal of circumpolar health · 2018Article
- In the light of change: a mixed methods investigation of climate perceptions and the instrumental record in northern Sweden.Population and environment · 2018Article
- Does ethnicity matter in risk and protective factors for suicide attempts and suicide lethality?PloS one · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSuicide is a widespread problem among indigenous people residing in the circumpolar Arctic. Though the situation among the indigenous Sami in northern Scandinavia is better than among some other indigenous people, suicide is still regarded as a major public health issue. To adapt prevention strategies that are culturally attuned one must understand how suicide is understood within context. That is, the cultural meaning(s) of suicide.
objectiveTo explore and make sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among Sami in Sweden.
designOpen-ended focus group discussions (FGDs) on the topic "suicide among Sami" were carried out in 5 Sami communities in Sweden, with in total 22 strategically selected Sami participants. FGDs were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed through employing content analysis.
resultsFrom the FGDs 4 themes emerged including "The Sami are fighting for their culture and the herders are in the middle of the fight," "Suicide as a consequence of Sami losing (or having lost) their identity," "A wildfire in the Sami world" and "Difficult to get help as a Sami."
conclusionsFindings indicate that Sami in Sweden make sense of suicide in relation to power and identity within a threatened Sami cultural context. Suicide is then understood as an act that takes place and makes sense to others when a Sami no longer has the power to maintain a Sami identity, resulting in being disconnected from the Sami world and placed in an existential void where suicide is a solution. The findings are useful in development of culturally attuned suicide prevention among Sami in Sweden.
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