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The Heavy Metal Subculture and Suicide
Author(s) -
Stack Steven,
Gundlach Jim,
Reeves Jimmie L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1994.tb00659.x
Subject(s) - subculture (biology) , suicide rates , subject (documents) , variance (accounting) , criminology , psychology , suicide prevention , sociology , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , library science , computer science , business , botany , biology , accounting
The impact of the heavy metal music subculture on suicide has been the subject of much public debate but little scholarly research. The present paper assesses this relationship with data on heavy metal magazine subscriptions and youth suicide in the 50 states. We find that, controlling for other predictors of suicide, the greater the strength of the metal subculture, the higher the youth suicide rate. The music perhaps nurtures suicidal tendencies already present in the subculture. The model explains 51% of the variance in youth suicide.