Citation

Leenaars AA, Lester D. Crisis 1998; 19(2): 73-77.

Affiliation

Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910.19.2.73

PMID

9785648

Abstract

The NASH categories (Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide) used on death certificates are known to obscure many of the psychological dimensions of death. Although there are many studies of death certificates of the extent to which suicide may be misclassified as accidental or natural deaths, and a few studies comparing individuals who commit suicides to accidental death victims, this topic is often neglected at a sociological level. This analysis of the NASH modes of death examines if these deaths differ from a sociological perspective. Specifically, rates of divorce, marriage, birth, and unemployment were correlated with deaths of natural causes (stomach cancer, cirrhosis of the liver), accidents (motor vehicle accident), suicide, and homicide. The results suggest that the sociological associations with some causes of death (i.e., cirrhosis of the liver, suicide and, homicide) have a similar social pattern but are different from others (i.e., motor vehicle accidents and stomach cancer). Although there are problems of interpretation at a sociological level, it is suggested that the social epidemiology of death may be obscured by the NASH classification. Recent suggestions on terminology and taxonomy by the International Academy for Suicide Research (IASR) are offered as one step towards addressing this issue.

Keywords: Suicide misclassification

Language: en