Acculturation and acculturative stress as indicators for suicide risk among African Americans

Abstract

The literature on African American suicide and the acculturation literature were examined to derive a possible explanation for increases in suicide deaths for African American men and apparent resilience for African American women. Historically, African Americans were believed to be unaffected by suicide because of protective factors (e.g., strong religious values and cohesive familial support systems) embedded in the culture. However, minority mental health investigators have found that acculturation sometimes leads to negative consequences for individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds. Accordingly, acculturation and acculturative phenomena are proposed as a model to shed light on African American male suicide as African Americans increasingly engage mainstream values, beliefs, and practices in the absence of traditional protective factors.