Citation

Mohatt NV, Singer JB, Evans AC, Matlin SL, Golden J, Harris C, Burns J, Siciliano C, Kiernan G, Pelleritti M, Tebes JK. Am. J. Community Psychol. 2013; 52(1-2): 197-209.

Affiliation

Division of Prevention and Community Research and The Consultation Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 389 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06511-2369, USA, nathaniel.mohatt@yale.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1007/s10464-013-9581-7

PMID

23743604

Abstract

Suicide is a preventable public health problem and a leading cause of death in the United States. Despite recognized need for community-based strategies for suicide prevention, most suicide prevention programs focus on individual-level change. This article presents seven first person accounts of Finding the Light Within, a community mobilization initiative to reduce the stigma associated with suicide through public arts participation that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 2011 through 2012. The stigma associated with suicide is a major challenge to suicide prevention, erecting social barriers to effective prevention and treatment and enhancing risk factors for people struggling with suicidal ideation and recovery after losing a loved one to suicide. This project engaged a large and diverse audience and built a new community around suicide prevention through participatory public art, including community design and production of a large public mural about suicide, storytelling and art workshops, and a storytelling website. We present this project as a model for how arts participation can address suicide on multiple fronts-from raising awareness and reducing stigma, to promoting community recovery, to providing healing for people and communities in need.

Language: en