Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

History Social History

Sorrows of a Century

Interpreting Suicide in New Zealand, 1900-2000

by (author) John C. Weaver

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2014
Category
Social History, Mental Health
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773542754
    Publish Date
    Feb 2014
    List Price
    $85.00

Add it to your shelf

Where to buy it

Description

In Sorrows of a Century, John Weaver describes how personal relationships, work, poverty, war, illness, and legal troubles have driven thousands to despair. His study is set in twentieth-century New Zealand where - in spite of high standards of living and a commitment to social welfare - citizens have experienced the profound losses and stresses of the human condition. Focusing on New Zealand because it has the most comprehensive and accessible coroners' records, Weaver analyzes a staggering amount of information to determine the social and cultural factors that contribute to suicide rates. He examines the country's investigations into sudden deaths, places them within the context of major events and societal changes, and turns to witnesses' statements, suicide notes, and medical records to remark on prevention strategies. His extensive survey of twelve thousand cases also provides an insightful assessment of psychiatry and psychology in the last century. In reviewing the motives and methods of suicide, Weaver points out the complications facing deterrence. Moving beyond the timeless present of the social sciences and the irrationality emphasized in psychology, Sorrows of a Century marshals testimony to highlight the historical context and rational conduct behind suicide.

About the author

John C. Weaver is University Professor at McMaster University, and the author of The Great Land Rush and the Making of the Modern World, 1650-1900.

John C. Weaver's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"In this remarkable book, John C. Weaver looks at every suicide inquest in New Zealand for a full century – this is not a sample. The power of this book is the mass of human testimony and case histories, sensitively described and set in long-run historical context that drives home the complexity of the need some human beings feel to take their own lives and the critical role of the economy and social institutions in making troubled lives bearable." American Historical Review

"This landmark history [based on] a thorough search of the inquest files has yielded a more reliable total than that indicated by official reports, which were susceptible to compassionate under-counting. As “keyholes” to the past, these files have yielded

Other titles by