The causes of minor suicide: how the restatement approach to foreseeability & scope of liability fails to act as a deterrent
Date
2024-02-12
Authors
Toomey, John W.
Version
OA Version
Citation
Toomey JW. The Causes of Minor Suicide: How the Restatement Approach to Foreseeability & Scope of Liability Fails to Act as a Deterrent. American Journal of Law & Medicine. 2023;49(2-3):396-413. doi:10.1017/amj.2023.40
Abstract
Suicide is one of the most common causes of death among individuals younger than eighteen years old. While psychological and social sciences continue to study the causes of the increasing prevalence of suicide in children and teens, the law largely continues to treat suicide as an isolated event. This Note tracks the historical treatment of suicide both under tort and criminal law, supporting the shift away from the traditional view of suicide towards one that more closely aligns with the growing understanding of the many factors that can contribute to a minor’s suicide. Ultimately, this Note argues that many minor suicides should be treated as foreseeable, allowing actions in tort.
Description
License
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been published under a Read & Publish Transformative Open Access (OA) Agreement with CUP.