Sakura. The religious community as a preventing agent from suicide

Abstract

For Japanese culture, the sakura -that is, cherry trees and their blossoms- has a special and spiritual meaning: on the one hand, it represents the ephemeral nature of life and mortality, since the cherry tree is a tree whose blossom has a very short life span, and on the other hand, it represents rebirth and resurgence through difficult experiences and obstacles in life. The present work intends to have an impact on the social problem of suicide, analyzing whether religion and, more specifically, religious communities function as a protective factor against suicide or suicidal ideation. That is to say, if the social relationships and friendships that are forged by sharing a faith within religious communities favor suicide prevention. In this sense, an empirical research of both qualitative and quantitative nature has been carried out, with the aim of knowing the close opinion and the experiences lived within religious communities about suicide. Thus, three interviews were carried out with leaders of three selected religions -Catholic, Evangelical and Muslim- and, on the other hand, a questionnaire was prepared for people who profess any of the three religions referred to and who belong or have belonged to a religious community. The type of sampling used to select the participants who responded to the questionnaire was non-probabilistic by convenience, resulting in a sample of n=90 (30 people from each religion). The results obtained show that people belonging to a religious community may have a consolidated support network with which to share their feelings and emotions, which is considered a protective factor against suicide. It is also evident that having a faith and hope can be reassuring for the person going through difficult life moments.