other group, teens of color are rapidly approaching these rates. If we look at African Americans, there is a significant increase in the suicide rates of teen males, “The study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the rate of suicide for black youths ages 15-19 had more than doubled, to 8.1 per 100,000 in 1995, from 3.6 per 100,000 in 1980. It found a similar pattern, with far smaller numbers, for ages 10-14” (Belluck, 1998, 1).
Typically with problems pertaining to African Americans, economics and social environment are placed high on the list of causative factors. In a reverse twist, many experts are theorizing that increasing rates of suicide among black male teens stems from economic and social environment success. Suicide rates among blacks have been traditionally low, and experts cite close family ties, strong religious beliefs and familiarity with struggle and stress as reasons why blacks traditionally shy away from suicide. However, because of the increasing rate of success among African Americans in all aspects of society, experts contend that these resources are deteriorating and the lack of them takes away valuable coping mechanisms for blacks who are depressed and dealing with the struggles and stress of success, “One theory is that upwardly mobile families may experience some stress with their social environments and for some reason they may, in the process of adapting to a new class, adopt some of the behaviors of the larger society, including the ways of dealing with hopelessness and depression. Several experts on black youth suicide say that the move to middle-class life may by accompanied by a splintering of community and family support network
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