Awareness and attitudes of a rural Ethiopian community toward suicidal behaviour - A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia

One hundred key informants were interviewed regarding their awareness and a ttitudes toward suicidal behaviour. Eighty-eight informants were male, 58 w ere Muslim and 42 were Christian. Informants on average, claimed to know mo re persons who had completed suicide than those who had attempted suicide. Almost all informants mentioned more than one cause for suicide. Of these, frustration was the most frequently mentioned cause. Most informants believ ed that suicide attempters are cruel, feared and not trustworthy. Their att itude toward suicide completers was expressed as condemned sinners, do not deserve funeral ceremony, and should he buried separately from others. Chri stians gave importance to the funeral issue more than did the Muslims. Gene rally, the attitudes of informants were punitive and disapproving.