Drive to suicide: features of psychotraumatic impact, formation and realization of suicidal intention

Intentional deprivation of one's own life, or suicide, is an act condemned by morality and clearly not encouraged by the state and society. The reasons for suicide vary, but all world religions unequivocally condemn suicide, believing that no motives can justify this deeply immoral, ungodly act. At the same time, persons who have exerted mental and physical coercion to suicide, in other words, who have driven someone to suicide, are condemned not only by morality, but also bear criminal liability as having committed a crime against life. In Russia, driving to suicide has been criminalized since 1845, and remained so for almost the entire Soviet period. The reasons for suicide vary. The determinants of suicidal behavior include biological (genetic), clinical (mental illness), and personality-psychological (low stress resistance, maximalism, impulsiveness, etc.) factors. The role of external factors has been little studied. The article analyzes the most typical cases that formed the basis of criminal cases on incitement to suicide, and subsequently - court sentences. The aim of the study is to study the suicidal characteristics of victims of crimes provided for in Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Incitement to Suicide". Materials and methods: the study examined 15 court decisions posted in open official sources (State Automated System "Justice"), which allow analyzing the mental state of the victim, personal data, and the characteristics of the traumatic, physical impact classified as incitement to suicide based on the expert opinions contained therein. The decisions were selected by random sampling. The victim's medical history was collected based on the information provided in the expert opinions of the experts who conducted the forensic psychological and psychiatric examination. Statistical processing of the material on the criminal record under Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was performed using the SPSS program. Results and discussion. According to the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, sentences for incitement to suicide are generally isolated across the country and are significantly inferior in number to other crimes against life and health. The main cases of incitement to suicide are related to domestic violence committed against a clearly weaker subject: a woman, a child, an elderly person. In addition, there is suicidal behavior of victims of acquisitive crimes (extortion, fraud), subordinates due to the degrading actions of the management. A psychotraumatic situation in the family, at work (service) is long-term, systemic. Suicidal behavior in this situation is considered by the victim as the only way to resolve it and stop suffering. It also aims to draw attention to the actions of the person guilty of the suffering of the victim, sometimes - retribution for the suffering caused. In victims of acquisitive crimes, on the contrary, the stressful situation arises spontaneously. Conclusions. Long-term or short-term, but extremely intense psychotraumatic impact is the main trigger for a suicidal decision made as a result of criminal incitement to suicide. In general, a detailed study of the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior caused by violence and abuse is hampered by the latent (secret) nature of such actions, which allows those guilty of driving someone to suicide to avoid criminal liability, despite the grave consequences of their actions.