Suicide and the morality of kinship in Sri Lanka

Widger, Tom

doi:10.1177/006996671104600205

Suicide and the morality of kinship in Sri Lanka

Widger, Tom

Authors

Dr Thomas Widger tom.widger@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Ethnographic research amongst Sinhala Buddhists in community and clinical settings in the Madampe Division, northwest Sri Lanka, suggests that local understandings and practices of suicidal behaviour reflect the kinship structure. In particular, acts of self-harm and self-inflicted death arise in response to the breaking of core kinship rights, duties and obligations, or as a challenge to inflexibility or contradictions within the system. In either case, the morality of kinship is closely associated with the causes of suicidal behaviour, as the ‘inevitability’ or ‘evitability’ of kin relationships is negotiated and lived in practice. This article analyses how local political economies give rise to particular kinship and moral conditions, with special attention paid to those between household (gē) members and brothers-in-law (massinā).

Citation

Widger, T. (2012). Suicide and the morality of kinship in Sri Lanka. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 46(1-2), 83-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/006996671104600205

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Feb 1, 2012
Deposit Date	Oct 17, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Mar 11, 2015
Journal	Contributions to Indian Sociology
Print ISSN	0069-9667
Electronic ISSN	0973-0648
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	46
Issue	1-2
Pages	83-116
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/006996671104600205
Keywords	Suicide, Kinship, Morality, Sri Lanka.

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Copyright Statement
Widger, Tom (2012). Suicide and the morality of kinship in Sri Lanka. Contributions to Indian Sociology 46(1-2): 83-116. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.