TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - A community's response to suicide through public art: stakeholder perspectives from the Finding the Light Within Project
JO  - American journal of community psychology
A1  - Mohatt, Nathaniel V.
A1  - Singer, Jonathan B.
A1  - Evans, Arthur C.
A1  - Matlin, Samantha L.
A1  - Golden, Jane
A1  - Harris, Cathy
A1  - Burns, James
A1  - Siciliano, Catherine
A1  - Kiernan, Guy
A1  - Pelleritti, Margaret
A1  - Tebes, Jacob Kraemer
SP  - 197
EP  - 209
VL  - 52
IS  - 1-2
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0091-0562
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9581-7
ID  - ref1
ER  -