Deculturation as a precipitant of parasuicide in an Asian group

The Durban Indian community has been described as an acculturating or a deculturating community. The processes of acculturation and deculturation are seen to lead to a transitional state of values and norms which causes psychological stresses within the community. Deviation from accepted cultural norms and concomitant interpersonal disputes were major precipitating factors in parasuicidal acts in 54 of a sample of 100 patients, reflecting the stresses of the transitional state of the community. Culturally deviant precipitating factors in the parasuicidal act were more common in females, in the younger age group, in patients of the Christian religion, and in upper- and middle-class patients.