HKU Bulletin August 2010 (Vol. 11 No. 3)

20 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 21 August 2010 Many families in Hong Kong live with financial pressures, lack of space and a host of other social problems. But when these problems explode into conflict and violence, it’s the act, not the underlying cause, that the media zoom in on. And when the act involves spousal or elderly abuse, they almost ignore the story altogether. Families in Crisis Suicide, abuse, delinquency and other problems plague Hong Kong families, but often get scant attention or are misunderstood. Two HKU studies shed light on family-related problems. One identifies a simple way to reduce suicides that is still not being adopted across Hong Kong. The other reflects on media coverage of families in Hong Kong that often dwells on conflict and violence but may be missing the bigger picture. The Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) reported these findings after studying 2,430 news reports and commentaries over six months in four major Hong Kong newspapers and the ATV and TVB newscasts. Family-related stories made up less than three per cent of all stories covered and more than half of the stories concerned violence, such as murder, suicide and assault, or juvenile delinquency. “We were surprised at how limited the overall coverage was, only three per cent. A large part of our lives revolves around family, so some of our biggest problems will be family-related,” Thomas Abraham, Assistant Professor of the JMSC, said. Curiously, only certain kinds of violence tended to be covered. A comparison of stories with cases reported to the Social Welfare Department showed 71 per cent of child abuse cases were covered in the media, but only five per cent of spousal abuse cases and two per cent of elderly abuse cases. “It’s not to say every case of spousal or elderly abuse is newsworthy, but it is indicative that public recognition of these problems appears to be quite low,” he said. “If you don’t talk about the issues, the larger societal problems often get buried. What good journalism and good news organizations can do is select issues and find ways to promote discussion about them.” Most of the stories in the study, though, focused solely on the individuals involved and treated the situations as isolated events. The striking exception was the Tin Shui Wai tragedy in which a woman killed herself and her two children in October 2007. Because there had been other unhappy incidents in the area, the media questioned the social factors behind the murder-suicide – an indication that, with sufficient motivation, news organizations in Hong Kong are willing to look at the bigger picture. “They asked, why this housing estate? Why were there so many problems there? What were the underlying social issues?” Mr Abraham said. “Quality journalism can ask these deeper questions and in a sense help society to reflect on itself and understand itself.” It can also help to convey solutions. However, only 1.9 per cent of the stories focused on advice, help or solutions to family-related problems, although some of this information was contained in other stories, such as surveys and government policies. The study has provided input to a larger on- going project on family problems and family health, happiness and harmony in Hong Kong, conducted by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and the School of Public Health. The “FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society” and the JMSC study are funded by the Jockey Club. A SAD STORY to tell Media coverage of families in Hong Kong dwells, unsurprisingly, on conflict and violence. But it may be missing the bigger picture, a study finds. The findings of a pilot study on restricting of sales of charcoal in Hong Kong were everything Professor Paul Yip could hope for: they pointed to a way to reduce suicides, they were evidence-based, they received international recognition. The only problem is, the results have yet to be put into action to help Hong Kong people territory-wide. Professor Yip and his team conducted a one-year study comparing suicides in Tuen Mun, where charcoal packs were removed from the open shelves of major retail outlets, to those in Yuen Long, where charcoal was sold openly as usual. Charcoal burning- related suicides fell sharply in Tuen Mun, by 31.8 per cent, but similar results were not seen in Yuen Long. Apparently, the lack of easy access to charcoal frustrated potential suicides or made them think twice, and they didn’t follow through. The results compared to an overall drop in Hong Kong’s suicide rate of 5.7 per cent during the same period. Encouraging as the results were, though, they have not yet had much impact on charcoal access in Hong Kong. Wellcome Supermarket dropped the system of restricted access after the study period and Park’N’Shop has yet to extend it to its other stores. Professor Yip, who is Director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, has been negotiating with these two major supermarket chains and others for well over a year to lock up all of their charcoal. “We are grateful for their participation in the study, however, we are frustrated that they don’t want to continue. It is not that difficult for them and we are helping vulnerable members of the community,” he says. “People say, why control charcoal? They can still jump off buildings. Yes, they can do that, but the point is that those who attempt suicide are usually not good at problem solving. Their cognitive thinking is different from us. So if you take away a means of suicide that is very appealing to them, they will have problems finding another means. “The whole rationale is to make it more difficult and buy time. Once we have bought time, we have an opportunity. Their family members and friends can intervene before they do anything, and they can also seek help.” Burning charcoal, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, is appealing to potential suicides because it is considered easy and clean and it can be done at home. Eighty per cent of charcoal suicides are committed at home, which adds to the imperative to control sales. “Charcoal burning started with one person in Hong Kong in 1998 and by 2003, 320 people committed suicide this way. All other causes had very little change, only charcoal burning went up. By 2009 the number had come down to about 120. I would say 60-70 per cent of the rise and fall in Hong Kong’s suicide rate has been exacerbated by charcoal burning. The situation is even worse in Taiwan,” he says. There is a precedent that product restriction can reduce suicides. Suicides in the UK fell after sales of paracetamol were limited to packets of at most 24 tablets in the late 1990s, making it difficult to overdose on the product without making multiple purchases. “Evidence-based research has shown that restriction of means is one of the most effective measures to reduce suicides,” Professor Yip says. “We can’t prevent all suicides but at least we can make a difference. We can help to reduce the number.” The results of Professor Yip’s study have been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry and reported in the British Medical Journal and the publication of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. CONTROL CHARCOAL SALES AND save lives Suicide by charcoal burning is the major reason for fluctuations in Hong Kong’s suicide rate and the leading cause of suicide in Taiwan. It needn’t be so, according to a HKU study. Research