Muldez, Lineth Julia B.

9 – Darwin

Assignment in Health 9
A. Suicide and Parasuicide

Suicide is defined as the intentional taking of one's own life. Prior to the late nineteenth century,
suicide was legally defined as a criminal act in most Western countries. In the social climate of the
early 2000s, however, suicidal behavior is most commonly regarded and responded to as a
psychiatric emergency.

Suicide is considered a major public health problem around the world as well as a personal tragedy.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), suicide was the eleventh leading cause
of death in the United States in 2000, and the third leading cause of death for people between the
ages of 15 and 24. About 10.6 out of every 100,000 persons in the United States and Canada die by
their own hands. There are five suicide victims for every three homicide deaths in North America as of
the early 2000s. There are over 30,000 suicides per year in the United States, or about 86 per day;
and each day about 1900 people attempt suicide.

Parasuicide is a suicide attempt or gesture and self-harm where there is no result in death. It is a
non-fatal act in which a person deliberately causes injury to him or herself or ingests any prescribed
or generally recognised therapeutic dose in excess. The term was first coined in Edinburgh by
Norman Kreitman. It is considered to be a serious public health issue. Parasuicide is the strongest
known indicator for a future successful suicide attempt. Other researchers also include those in the
definition who attempt suicide with the intent to kill themselves. Studies have found that about half of
those who complete suicide have a history of parasuicide. Parasuicide is most common in
adolescents and young adults. It is often a cry for help meaning the person wants others to know
what s/he is feeling.

Some clues that a person has if s/he has suicidal tendencies:

 Talking about suicide or death

 Writing farewell letters or giving away valuable things to their friends and siblings
 Showing changes in behaviors, moods, and feelings

Suicide and parasuicide are intentional injuries that are self-inflicted, while assault has four
classifications:

(1) those that were committed within the family;

(2) those that were committed by peers;
(3) those that were committed by other groups; and
(4) those that were committed by the family, peers or other groups.

B. Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence is an act that includes physical assault (hitting, pushing, shoving, etc.), sexual
abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activity), and verbal abuse. These are behaviors that are used by
one person in a relationship who tries to control the other. Domestic violence includes abuse and
actions such as:
 name - calling or putdowns or threatened physical harm
 keeping a partner from contacting his/her friends/family
 withholding money
 keeping a partner from getting a job
 actual or threatened physical harm
 sexual assault
 stalking
 intimidation

Who are the possible victims of domestic violence? Anyone can be a victim, or is at risk of it,
especially if his/her partner:
 is very jealous and/or spies on him/her
 will not let him/her break off the relationship
 hurts him/her in any way
 puts him/her down
 forces him/her to have sex with her/him
 pressures him/her to use drugs or alcohol
 has a history of bad relationships and blames it on others

C. Bullying, Stalking, Extortion

Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior. The behavior is repeated, or can be repeated, over
time.
In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
 An imbalance of power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to
embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others.
 Repetition: Bullying behavior happen more than once or have the potential to happen more
than once.

Different Classifications of Bullying:

 Verbal Bullying – saying or writing mean and nasty things. It includes:
- Teasing
- Name Calling
- Making inappropriate sexual comments
- Taunting
- Threatening to cause harm

 Social Bullying - sometimes referred to as relational bullying – hurting someone’s reputation

or relationships. It includes:
- Telling other children not to be friends with someone
- Spreading rumors about someone
- Embarrassing someone in public

 Physical bullying – hurting a person’s body or destroying his/her possessions. It includes:

- Hitting/kicking/pinching
- Spitting
 - Tripping/pushing
 Cyberbullying – verbal and social bullying done through use of technology and electronic
means. It includes:
- Using social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Using mobile devices (i.e. cellphone)
- Using electronic mails (i.e. e-mails)

Stalking is a pattern of behavior that makes you feel afraid, nervous, harassed, or in danger. It Is
when someone repeatedly contacts you, follows you, sends you things, and talks to you, even when
you don’t want them to. Stalking behaviors include:
 Knowing your schedule
 Showing up at places you go to
 Sending mail, e-mail, and pictures
 Calling or texting repeatedly
 Contacting you or posting about you on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
 Writing letters
 Damaging your property
 Creating a web site about you
 Sending gifts
 Stealing things that belong to you
 Any other actions to contact, harass, track, or frighten you

Extortion is the act of using force or threats to force people to hand over their money or properties,
on favors. Extortion can happen outside or near schools wherein children are victimized to give up
their allowances, in exchange for the promise that they will not be beaten up.

D. Gang and Youth Violence, Illegal Fraternity-related Violence, Kidnapping and Abduction,
and Acts of terror

Gang and Youth Violence

A gang is defined as a relatively tough, mostly street-based group of young people who regard
themselves and may be seen by others as a group that engages in a range of criminal activity and
violence. Oftentimes, they are in conflict with other similar gangs. Gang members are responsible for
majority of serious crimes like extortion, theft, and robbery. They are also likely to be involved in
selling drugs and are more likely to bring weapons to school for fear of attack from rival gangs.

Illegal Fraternity-Related Violence

A fraternity is a group of people with similar backgrounds, occupations, interests, or tastes. In
campuses and universities, fraternities are represented Greek letters. It is not easy to join in
fraternities. To maintain their exclusiveness, fraternity members must undergo a series of initiation
rites to become part of the “brotherhood”. One of these is hazing, or activities that involve abuse,
harassment, or humiliation. Some die in the process.
 Republic Act 8049 – Anti-Hazing Law : Physical Hazing is prohibited

Kidnapping and Abduction

Kidnapping is taking away or forcefully moving a person against his/her will and holding him/her in
unjust captivity. The act is usually done for a motive like getting a monetary reward/ransom or getting
some sort of benefit from the person or their family. On the other hand, abduction is the use of deceit
or force in order to take a person or a child away from their home or relatives. In abduction, the victim
usually knows or has some sort of relation with the abductor.
Acts of Terror
Acts of terror, or terrorism, is the use of violence for political goals and putting the public or a great
number of people in fear. The purpose of these terrorist groups is to produce terror in their victims
through the use of violence, fear and pressure. Acts of terror may be categorized into six. These are
the following:
 State terrorism – States or governments can use force or the threat of force, without declaring
war, to terrorize their citizens and achieve a political goal.
 Bioterrorism – refers to the intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize
civilians, in the name of a political or other cause. It includes viruses, bacteria and toxins that
could be used in an attack
 Cyberterrorism – is the use of information technology to attack civilians and draw attention to
the terrorists’ cause.
 Ecoterrorism – the use of violence in the interests of environmentalism. In general,
environmental extremist destroy property to inflict economic damage on industries or actors
they see as harming animals or the natural environment.
 Nuclear terrorism – refers to a number of different ways nuclear materials might be used as a
terrorist tactic. These include attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons, or
building nuclear weapons or otherwise finding ways to diffuse radioactive materials.
 Narcoterrorism – the use of violence by drug traffickers to influence governments or prevent
government’s efforts in stopping the drug trade. This may involve the assassination of
influential persons who are against drug trafficking, or killing a government official who leads
an anti-drug trafficking agency.

E. Verbal Abuse and Sexual Abuse (Incest, Molestation, Rape)

Verbal abuse is a form of cruelty that involves the use of words. These words are used to attack,
control, and cause harm on another person. To better understand verbal abuse, it is better to look at
its characteristics:
 Verbal abuse is hurtful and usually attacks the nature and abilities of the person
 Verbal abuse may be obvious (through angry outbursts and name-calling) or hidden (involving
very subtle comments).
 Verbal abuse is controlling. Even judgmental comments can be voiced in a very sincere and
concerned way.
 Verbal abuse is dangerous. It causes a gradual fading of the self-confidence of persons
without them realizing it. They may try to change their behavior so as not to upset the abuser.
 Verbal abuse is fickle. A person is stunned, shocked, and thrown off balance by the abuser’s
mockery, angry punch, critical remark, or hurtful comment.
 Verbal abuse usually worsens, increase of strength, regularity, and assortment. The verbal
abuse may begin with put-downs disguised as jokes. Later, other forms might surface.
Sometimes the verbal abuse may rise into physical abuse, starting with "accidental" shoves,
pushes, and bumps.

Sexual Abuse
Incest is sexual contact between persons who are so closely related that a marriage between them is
considered illegal (e.g., parents and children, uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, etc.).

Molestation is the sexual abuse of a person (whether a child or adult) by an adult for sexual pleasure
or for profit. It may include any of the following:
 Fondling – to handle, stroke or caress lovingly or erotically
 Mutual masturbation – two people touching each other’s sexual organs for pleasure
  Sodomy – sexual intercourse that involves inserting of the penis of one person into the anus
of another person
 Coitus – sexual intercourse between a male and a female involving the insertion of the penis
into the vagina
 Child pornography – explicit portrayal of children as sexual subject matter for purpose of
sexual arousal. It may be in a variety of media, like books, magazines, films, photos and etc.
 Child prostitution- refers to children who get paid to have sex

Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. The sexual act may
also be considered rape if it satisfies any of the following criteria:
 One or both people are not old enough to consent, which means one or both of them are
below 18 years old
 One of them does not have the capacity to consent, which means one of them may not be in
his/her mental and legal capacity to consent (i.e. with mental disability, people who have been
drugged or unconscious, etc.)
 One of them did not agree to take part, which means the rapist might use physical force or
threat to force the victim to have intercourse with him/her

If these three considerations are met, the sexual act falls under the category of rape, which is a
criminal offense and it is punishable by law.