Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:35:15.738Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Assisted suicide or culpable suicide: is there a difference?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Hari D. Maharajh*
Affiliation:
St Ann's Hospital, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In 1991, Derek Humphry published Final Exit – The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying. The book was written for mature adults who were suffering from terminal illnesses and required guidance in committing suicide, but it has encouraged suggestive and susceptible people to attempt suicide (Lavin et al, 1992). There appears to be a thin line between assisted suicide and culpable suicide. ‘Culpable suicide’ is used here to describe contributory negligence attributed to persons who unknowingly assist another person's suicide.

Type
Original articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 1993

References

Fromm, E. (1974) The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Humphry, D. (1991) Final Exit – The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying. Eugene, Oregon: Hemlock Society.Google Scholar
Lavin, M., Martin, G. & Roy, A. (1992) Suicidality and Final Exit. Abst. American Psychiatric Association; 145th Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA.Google Scholar
Maharajh, H. D. (1992) Imitation suicidal behaviour in Trinidad and Tobago. Paper presented at a conference ‘Suicide and Family Life’ held on 20 September 1992 in Trinidad.Google Scholar
Parasram, R. (1992) Suicide and ethnic disadvantage. Paper presented at a conference ‘Suicide and Family Life’ held on 20 September 1992 in Trinidad.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.