Forced suicide
Encyclopedia : F : FO : FOR : Forced suicide
| Suicide |
| Types of suicide |
|---|
| Teenage suicide |
| Euthanasia / Assisted suicide |
| Murder-suicide |
| Suicide bombing |
| Ritual suicide |
| Cult suicide |
| Mass suicide |
| Suicide pact |
| Internet suicide |
| Copycat suicide |
| Forced suicide |
| Suicide by cop |
| History and Methodology |
| History of suicide |
| Famous suicides |
| Parasuicide (threats of suicide) |
| Suicide methods |
| Suicide note |
| Suicide watch |
| Views on suicide |
| Cultural |
| Legal |
| Medical views of suicide>Medical |
| Philosophical |
| Religious |
| Right to die |
| Resources for dealing with suicidal thoughts |
| Crisis hotline |
| Assessment of suicide risk |
| Suicide prevention |
| Crisis hotlines by country |
| Medical views of suicide |
Forced suicide is a method of execution where the victim is given the choice of committing suicide or facing an alternative they perceive as worse, such as suffering torture; having friends or family members imprisoned, tortured or killed; or losing honour, position or means.
Forced suicide was a common means of execution in ancient Greece. As a mark of respect it was generally reserved for aristocrats sentenced to death; the victims would either drink hemlock or fall on their swords. Probably the most famous forced suicide is that of the philosopher Socrates, who drank hemlock after being found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens. Seneca also killed himself in response to a request by the Roman Emperor Nero.
Economic motivations promoted some suicides in ancient Rome. A person who was condemned to death would forfeit property to the government. People could evade that provision and let the property pass to their heirs by committing suicide prior to arrest.
Forced suicides have occurred in ancient China, where generals who were responsible for major debacles that seriously brought a downfall in the course of a state's history would be held liable and were given orders to commit suicide.
Another famous example is the forced suicide of Erwin Rommel, a field marshal in the Second World War German army. After Rommel lost faith in Germany's ability to win the war, and was suspected of having ties with the conspirators who tried to kill Hitler on 20 July1944, he was forced to commit suicide. Due to Rommel's popularity with the German people, Adolf Hitler gave him an option to commit suicide with cyanide or face dishonour and retaliation against his family and staff. Rommel ended his own life on October 14, 1944, and was buried with full military honours [link].
Other forced suicides include that of Nero the Roman Emperor and it was quite common in the Roman Imperial Court. In some cases Japanese seppuku could fall into this category, since failing to commit seppuku could in some situations lead to great dishonor for a samurai and his family.
According to a BBC report [link] the United Nations is, as of 2006, investigating reports that forced suicide is being used in honor killings of women in Turkey.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.