Abstract
Despite considerable prevention and intervention efforts, military suicide rates have increased. Although most research on active-duty military suicide has focused on combat exposure, evidence shows that bullying, hazing, and race are understudied risk factors for military suicide. According to the interpersonal theory of suicide, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability are necessary components for enacting a suicide death. In this theoretically-based interpersonal case analysis of the suicide death of Private Danny Chen, an American soldier of Chinese descent, we explore how bullying, hazing, and race may have intersected with other vulnerabilities to result in his death.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the work of Pavleta Ognyanova, MA, for her assistance with editing.
Disclosure statement
No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.