TODAY

• Why and how do attributions matter?

[Why do you think suicide is rarely a policy topic?]
GUIDING QUESTIONS
• Why is suicide not a policy issue?
• Why is suicide not part of the gun rights/gun control debate?

• What attributions make it an unlikely policy issue?

• What other issues might share a similar fate?
ON ATTRIBUTIONS
[what is an attribution?]

attribution is the process by which individuals explain the causes of

behavior and events; according to attribution theory, individuals can
explain the causes of behavior and events as internal vs. external
 You didn’t
You built that!
build that!

External attributions Internal attributions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw8Uze31t8k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozoBqL-eMM
 WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT FOR POLICY?
How we make sense of the world and its problems—what attributions we
make—determines whether/how we intervene.

CASE STUDY: SUICIDE

• Suicide is more prevalent than homicide by nearly 2 to 1. Yet, it never makes
it on the policy agenda.
• CDC: 46,000 suicides in 2020
• FBI: 21,500 homicides in 2020
• What attributions do we make?
• What other attributions could we make?
• What difference would it make? To the (non-existent) policy debate on
suicide? To the gun rights/control debate?
SUICIDE: Internal Attributions?
• The cause is within the person, not outside of the person (i.e., the
environment)
• Mental illness
• Temporary insanity

• From the reading: “If a man shoots his wife amid a heated argument, we recognize
the crucial role played by the gun’s availability. We don’t automatically think, Well, if the
gun hadn’t been there, he surely would have strangled her. When it comes to suicide,
however, most of us make no such allowance. The very fact that someone kills himself we
regard as proof of intent—and of mental illness; the actual method, we assume, is of
minor importance.” Notice: Assumptions about internal vs. external attributions here.
SUICIDE: External Attributions?
• The situation is (at least partly) responsible
• Physical barriers
• British coal-gas story
• Suicide barrier on bridges (Ellington v. Taft bridge)
• Gun not readily accessible
• Israeli Defense Force study
• Social determinants
• Social capital
• Economic capital
• Media coverage
A NEW (OR ADDITIONAL) ANGLE ON THE GUN
DEBATE?
• Those who commit suicide out of impulsivity often choose methods
that are easy, speedy, and with a high certainty of death (e.g.,
jumping off bridge, guns)

• From the reading: Even though guns account for less than 1% [<6%] of all American
suicide attempts, their extreme fatality rate—85% to 92%—means that they account for
54% of all completions or about 17,000 deaths per year
• Miller & Hemenway, 2008: Suicide is more prevalent in states with high (vs. low)
gun ownership and in families who own (vs. do not own) guns. For more on this, see:
Private Guns, Public Health
WHAT’S THE CURRENT RHETORIC?
• Gun control - Guns threaten public safety and pose a danger to the
lives of children and adults. People who support gun control support
restrictions on the ability of people to purchase guns, to help avoid
tragedies like mass shootings.

• Gun rights - Gun ownership is a constitutional right that must be

protected. People who support gun rights oppose restrictions on the
rights of law-abiding Americans to purchase guns because guns can
be used safely; indeed, guns can promote safety. These rights are part
of the Constitution.
CURRENT POLITICAL DEBATE
• Background checks
• Assault weapons bans
• Magazine limits
• Gun trafficking

➢These policies are unlikely to have a measurable impact

on suicide. So, what then?
In 1999, Connecticut passed a law which provided a mechanism for
people to contact the police when they fear a gun will be used for
harm. Police and prosecutors may obtain warrants to seize firearms from people who appear to
be an imminent danger to themselves or others. The individual whose guns are taken has the right
to a hearing within two weeks.
Other possibilities?
Congress would enact the national strategy for suicide prevention:
Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan (cdc.gov)

Lawmakers could fund programs targeting suicide and gun violence:

https://theconnectprogram.org/resources/nh-firearm-safety-coalition/
WHY OR WHY NOT?
• Changes the face of • POSSIBLE PRO: • POSSIBLE CON:
gun deaths/violence? Forces us to have a Increases stigma of
real conversation mental illness?
about mental
illness/health? And
broaden the
narrative?
What other policy issues and solutions might
depend on internal v. external attributions?
What other issues might be sensitive to
internal vs. external attributions?
Take-away (1)
• The narratives we tell—specifically, the attributions we make—matter
for how and when we intervene.

• Behaviors widely attributed to internal causes seem less likely to

garner policy attention.

• Broadening the narrative—specifically, considering external

attributions—can help us see policy solutions.
Take-away (2)

• In the case of suicide, shifting from asking “why” to “how” allowed us

to move from internal to external attributions, and to consider new
solutions.

• Some of these solutions are consistent with a nudge approach…

• Nudges can tackle big problems and hugely consequential behavior
• Nudges often focus us on individual-level behavior and individual
accountability, but it need not do that