Abstract
Suicidal behaviour is a profoundly personal and complex behaviour. Currently suicide and
suicidal behaviour is a widespread health concern and South Africa is not immune to this
global crisis. In South Africa approximately one to two South Africans die from suicide and
at least 20 South Africans attempt suicide every hour (Schlebusch, 2012). Approximately two
percent of South Africa’s population employ self-immolation as a means for suicide. Selfimmolation
as a suicide method is still a relatively undocumented phenomenon in South
Africa and remains a noteworthy gap in suicide research. Consequently, the profile of South
African self-immolators remains incomplete, and is still an enigma to researchers. The overall
aim of this research study is to examine whether any specific psychological factors influence
the choice for suicide attempts and specifically the violent method of self-immolation. This
study achieved this research aim through an extensive study of relevant literature as well as
the implementation of practical research. This study employed a mixed method research
design employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data provided rich
descriptions into the experiences of participants whilst quantitative data identified personality
traits as well as psychopathology that may influence the diathesis and manifestations of
suicide attempts and self-immolation. This study focused on exploration rather than definitive
explanation. This study identified a number of environmental and contextual factors as
influencing the diathesis for suicide attempts and self-immolation. These include; age,
gender, relationship status, years of formal education, socio-economic situations, access to
social support, use of alcohol or illicit substances as well as previous suicide attempts or
exposure to trauma to name a few. Identified personality traits including impulsivity and
anger associated with scales in the MCMI-III and STPI were found. Other elevated traits
including schizoid, paranoid, borderline, schizotypal, avoidant and depressive traits were
found. Tentative profiles of each group were formulated. Furthermore, psychopathology was
identified using the MCMI-III, SPS and the BDI-II. Depression and anxiety seem to play an
influential role. Easy access to means including paraffin (a common household agent in South
Africa) were also considered. Whilst the results from this study cannot be generalized, the
value of this exploratory research provided a basis on which future research can be
developed. Whilst a limited access to participants restricted the generalizability of data, a
number of psychological factors were identified as having an influence on the suicide
attempts and self-immolation of the sample. Results from this study suggest that for at least
this sample, what seems to be an acute crisis in the self-immolation group compared to more
insidious chronic factors in the parasuicide group is an area of exploration that can elucidate
the mechanisms of the diathesis and manifestation of suicide attempts in South Africa as well
as the choice of such a violent method.
M.A.