Threatened by an individual double-edged risk? Representations of suicidal behavior and people who attempt suicide in prevention policies in Denmark. A poststructural policy analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to critically analyze how suicidal behavior and individuals who attempt suicide are problematized and represented in Danish suicide prevention policies. Drawing on a poststructural policy analysis approach inspired by Bacchi and Goodwin, we seek to uncover the underlying assumptions, silences, and potential effects embedded in these problem representations, with particular attention to how certain preventive actions are prioritized while broader social, structural, and relational understandings of suicidality are marginalized. Suicide prevention efforts in Denmark have not led to a reduction in suicides and suicide attempts in the last 20 years. Until recently, the underlying assumptions and constructions shaping national suicide prevention policies have received limited scholarly attention. Following this, our analysis focuses on documents published by key stakeholders and decision-makers involved in the national partnership for the prevention of suicide and suicide attempts in Denmark. The findings indicate that individuals who attempt suicide are predominantly framed as both risky and at risk, due to enduring individual vulnerabilities and mental illness. This dual construction positions the person as an active threat to themselves—engaging in suicidal behavior as a result of poor coping abilities—while simultaneously being a passive victim of external threats such as psychiatric conditions or adverse life circumstances. We argue that these dominant, individualized problem representations frame suicidal behavior as a double-edged risk, narrowing prevention efforts to acute, short-term individual support and treatment. This potentially leaves out the contexts people in suicidal distress navigate as sites of intervention.