Citation

McKenzie SK, Jenkin G, Steers D, Magill R, Collings S. Crisis 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Suicide and Mental Health Research Group, University of Otago Wellington, New Zealand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910/a000688

PMID

32366169

Abstract

Background: The Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why (13RW) focusing on the suicide of an adolescent girl became a global phenomenon. It was accompanied by intense public debate about the risks of exposing youth to fictional portrayals of adolescent suicide. Aims: To explore adolescents' subjective perspectives and understanding of 13RW focusing on the portrayal of adolescent suicide. Method: We applied a thematic analysis to qualitative data from interviews with 25 New Zealand adolescents eliciting views on the show's portrayal of adolescent suicide. Results: Four themes were developed from the analysis: entertaining but not realistic; the unexpected shock factor; jumbled messages; and superficial conversations. Conclusion: This study contributes a youth perspective which has been missing from the debate on 13RW. This research highlights the way that youth, when given the opportunity, articulated a nuanced understanding of the representation of adolescent suicide in 13RW, viewing it as entertainment rather than a realistic depiction that added little in terms of suicide awareness and generated minimal opportunities for in-depth discussion.

Language: en

Keywords

13 Reasons Why; adolescents; qualitative interviews; suicide