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The study of suicide developed in the nineteenth century with the aim of understanding the phenomenon of suicide. Recently, however, this aim has largely been abandoned and replaced with approaches concerned with suicide prevention. The emergence of youth suicide within the past few decades demands a return to the project of understanding suicide to make sense of this contemporary change. Research on suicide reveals a division between psychological and sociological approaches, and only a few works have sought to theoretically link them. Prompted by the lack of reconciliation of psychology and sociology, this investigation aims to bridge the gap between these disciplines. This is accomplished through a survey of literature illuminating various perspectives on suicide and a reflection on two approaches to the study of youth suicide that empirically link the individual and collective dimensions of study. The exploration of the convergence between these approaches provides insight into problems pertaining to youths´ identity development and into features of contemporary reality.

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Justin Gagnon holds a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. He is currently investigating means of evaluating and improving communication between health practitioners and their patients, as well as the quality of health services in general.

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