The Roots of Pressure Or Why People Commit Suicide

Who will become the next victim of suicide? According to the World Health Organization, in 2017, suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between 15-29 years old globally. While there is no single reason that we can point to for the cause of suicide, many people in this age range are students. Academic success is what many young adults strive to achieve. Students take pride in sharing their achievements with their family and friends. As college students, we understand and have experienced the years of academic pressures to achieve and succeed to the next level of our educational goals. In addition, we understand that suicide is a serious subject that requires continuous discussion, awareness, and action to help prevent more students from committing suicide. For this reason, we wanted to research how academic pressure in certain cultures may increase the risk of student suicides.

To understand how academic pressure in certain cultures can lead to a higher risk of suicide, it is important to understand the sociological concepts of cultural norms and the socialization agents, such as family and parents, who play a role in adding pressure to students’ lives. Cultural norms define how people behave or act in accordance with what society has defined as good and important Using the cultural norms concept, if a society highly values education, then our group assumes that society will reward students who are high achievers. The reward may be that they are admitted to a top university, which will probably increase their opportunities of a good career later in life. Conversely, we assume that society would view a student who does not achieve academically as a possible deviant because this behavior would be outside of the cultural norm. Socialization through family and school is another important sociological concept used to understand how cultural norms are reinforced.

Parents and teachers represent two strong voices in students’ lives. They reinforce society’s views on the value of education, and the social implications of succeeding and failing academically. If the culture highly values education above all else, we assume that parents and teachers will ingrain this idea into every aspect of students’ lives. There also may be explicit reminders that getting good grades in school and attending a good university will lead to parental satisfaction. For students, the pressure to succeed may intensify and there may be no other options or paths to consider when a focus on education is consistently discussed in the home and in the school. In the journal article, “Academic Pressure and Impact on Japanese Students,” Steve Bossy highlights the intense academic pressure that Japanese students face in high school, the teachers and parents who help to reinforce the pressure, and how the impact of the pressure can lead to detrimental psychological effects such as violence and suicide (Bossy, 2000, p. 71).

The root of the academic pressure is caused by what Bossy refers to as “…examination hell, a very intriguing, complicated and often disturbing way of life for many students in Japan” (Bossy, 2000, p. 72). For two years, Bossy performed a qualitative study on Japanese culture and its educational system. Bossy also reviewed government reports, articles and Japanese newspaper to further research the topic. In addition, he interviewed Japanese students to gain a deeper understanding of the Japanese education system and its personal effects on students. Bossy’s research revealed that the Japanese education system is revolved around the university entrance exam. The reason for this is that, “The university that a student attends is most often the sole criterion that employers consider in their decision to hire a potential candidate” (Bossy, 2000, p. 73). Based on this reason, it is no wonder that Japanese students feel overwhelmed to perform well in school. The effects of the overwhelming pressure to do well on the entrance examination has serious effects that may lead students to act out in violent and dangerous ways. Two ways in which Japanese students are found to vent their frustrations is through bullying and suicide (Bossy, 2000, p. 83).

A report by Japan’s National Police Agency, notes, “…the vast majority of suicides among this age group are attributed to strained interpersonal relations with friends and family, poor scholastic achievement, and failure in entrance exams” (Bossy, 2000, p. 85). The implications of Bossy’s findings are that Japanese society has created a culture that exerts a lot of pressure on students to do well on the entrance exam and to attend a top university. Their academic performance can impact their social status in Japanese society as well as their family’s social standing. The pressure can be psychologically and physically harmful to the Japanese student and Bossy concludes that families, school, and society may be unaware of the negative impacts the academic pressure can cause a student (Bossy, 2010, p. 87). In addition to the Japanese government working on ways to lessen students’ pressure, Japanese society also needs to find ways to lessen students’ pressure as well.

When comparing Bossy’s research with what we were expecting to find, we expected that the cultural norms of education in Japan included studying hard and attending a good university. However, we did not expect to find how deeply social status, social identity, social mobility, and quality of life were strongly tied to educational achievement in Japan. Bossy’s article revealed that extreme academic pressure placed by society can have unintended and harmful consequences with the most extreme form being suicide. Unfortunately, students may feel like there are no other alternatives. One suicide note mentioned, “It is impossible in this condition to pass the entrance examination, which is coming in about a month. I gave up hope of passing the examination. I give up. I have decided to die” (Bossy, 2000, p. 85). In other words, there does not appear to be any second chances or alternative options that families or students openly discuss or consider when it comes to the entrance exam. In the journal article, “Adolescent Suicide and Academic Competition in East Asia,” two researchers Zeng and La Tendre (1998), collected and analyzed data from polls from 1985-1995. They explained that since childhood, students go through “examination hell” to test their progress and criticize them based on their proficiency.

The researchers also found that, although, there is no connection between adolescent suicide and academic pressure, they concluded that there is a correlation between the culture and suicide. In their study, they compared the differences between the United States and East Asian countries, where they found that because Americans have more options than attending elite schools, they are less stressed out and attending college is sometimes not their first choice. As for East Asian countries, they are limited to only one college exam and because of that, their lives will be negatively impacted if they failed (Zeng & Le Tendre, 1998, p. 514). Their implications also confirmed that Japanese suicide only peaks in adolescents and gradually decreases after that. Because the academic competition was created by cultural, it expanded the national suicide rate among the majority of the students, as well as bullying among the students who aren’t as talented. Furthermore, their studies led to another finding which is during the spring, suicidal thoughts and actions are at the highest because of the intense examination (Zeng & Le Tendre, 1998, p.518-519).

With the parental pressure added to the students, it further stressed out students, drawing them deeper into depression and anxiety, ending their lives as the ultimate solution. When comparing the research of Zeng and Le Tendre, we expected to find that cultural norms force students to study hard, attend academies and participate in extracular activities, such as playing an instrument or sports. However, what amazed us was the intense competition that society created as a result of the pressure placed on students. Moreover, parents reinforce the competitive atmosphere for students to succeed. For those reasons, students may choose the easiest method, suicide, as a way of forgiveness. As for society, when students commit suicide, its perceived as lacking the ability to study and score well (Zeng & Le Tendre, 1998, p.526 ). In the article, “Personal Stress and Fatalism as Factors in College Suicide,” Dr. Peck and Dr. Bharadwaj, "analyzed college suicide problem by focusing on personal stress and fatalism as factors in college suicide" (Peck & Bharadwaj, 1980, p.19). They gathered evidence from surveys conducted in Los Angeles County universities and colleges between 1960-1968 and they concluded that there is higher suicide rate among college students than non-students. The college experience is filled with stress affecting students’ decision making skills and impeding their ability to process new information. Individuals who struggle with adapting to new changes and new values face disaffiliation and isolation which generates confusion and in turn losing hope and the value of life (Peck & Bharadwaj, 1980, p, 20).

Students who don't develop a structured plan to academic success find themselves unprepared for college academic standards and may view suicide as an only alternative. Dr. Peck’s and Dr.Bharadwaj’s findings suggest that “the evaluation of the impact of fatalism on suicide has been greatly neglected” (Peck & Bharadwaj, 1980, p, 19). Fatalists believe that life is predetermined thus, they are powerless to change the world. Further evaluating the fatalistic behavior could help understand student’s suicidal patterns and benefit many who struggle to modify and restructure their response to new experiences. The implications of their finding is that higher suicide rate among college students correlates to the inability to cope and adapt to new experiences, situations and relationships. Social isolation, academic pressure, and identity issues are factors that increase the suicide among adolescents and college students. College students are challenged to restructure previously learned values and beliefs without being offering centralized college support to aid students facing strain and frustration. They conclude that "it is key to solving some of the difficulties recently experienced within the university milieu, including those that lead to student suicide" (Peck & Bharadwaj, 1980, p. 24).

When comparing our group’s expected findings to those of Dr. Peak and Dr. Bharadwaj, there was great similitude of our assumptions to the actual research findings. For example, we had assumed that socialization and agents of socialization all contribute in adding pressure to students’ lives and the article states that the “rapid change in role relationships have been found to create neurotic stress” (Peck & Bharadwaj, 1980, p. 20). Stress caused by being unable to achieve social integration adds up to the academic pressure imposed by family and society making parental satisfaction impossible to achieve leaving suicide as the only viable option. In the article, Dr. Peck and Dr. Bharadwaj explain how “students face critical decisions about their life work, break home ties, confront new values and critical decisions (Peck & Bharadwaj, p.20, 1980).

It is clear that students have a lot of responsibilities aside from academic pressure that they are faced with on a daily basis. With the help of sociology, we can better understand the world we live in by identifying social inequalities, social conflicts, or social issues and trends that need to be addressed and resolved through government intervention, public or private support. Although we may not be personally affected by certain social issues, sociology provides a way for us to connect with society and the conflicts and issues that other people in our society may be enduring. By applying a sociological imagination, we can also help to generate answers to understanding human behavior and individual's choices and perceptions shaped by socialization agents. Ultimately, the purpose of sociology is to provide people ways to understand the social issues affecting our society and provide ways to help each other improve society. In the example of suicide, sociologists are instrumental in researching the prevalence and potential risks that may lead to suicide in different populations and proposing solutions and ways to help reduce cases of suicide.

With continued research and awareness of student suicide, we hope that the government can play a role in emphasizing career paths that do not necessarily require a student to have attended a top university. This may help parents and their children to think of alternative options as it relates to students’ futures. In addition to the increased awareness of suicide, it is our hope that parents can also learn to balance their children’s academics and physical and mental health since stress and pressure can have detrimental effects on children.