Personal and Collective Resilience Building- A Suicide Prevention Program for Schools Using Positive Psychology. Consultancy Project for an Irish Secondary School

Abstract

Abstract Ireland has the second highest rate of child suicide in Europe. This dissertation using qualitative methods explores the risks, causes and aftermath of suicide in relation to how positive psychology (PP) can assist in addressing those insights in order to build resilience and reduce suicide ideation for school aged children in Ireland. The client is Principal of a secondary school in Southern Ireland, who suffered the tragic loss of three senior pupils to suicide over a period of five years. The schools’ mission statement settled upon; “How can positive psychology help us to understand the risks and causes of suicide in school aged children and how can we apply those insights to instill resilience and prevent further tragedies in our school” Positive psychology defined as the science of what makes life worth living offers a relevant contrast for suicide which is concerned with proactively ending life. Point one explores suicide from three perspectives; those who have survived a serious attempt to end their own lives- parasuicide, those who have lost a relative or close one to suicide and lastly the organisations set up to address suicide ideation and effects. Point two takes the lead from these insights to give a good grounding in the areas of positive psychology research and theory that relate to the risks and causes of suicide and how they apply to school aged children. Point three is a plan of recommendations to address the problem through positive psychology interventions (PPI’s) which could be put in place to build resilience and prevent suicide in the clients’ and other schools. This dissertation concludes in a five slide presentation with a ten-minute voice over.