Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2017, 5, 254-282 http://www.scirp.org/journal/jss ISSN Online: 2327-5960 ISSN Print: 2327-5952 DOI: 10.4236/jss.2017.57016 July 19, 2017 Suicidal Behaviour in Bangladesh: A Scoping Literature Review and a Proposed Public Health Prevention Model Afroze Shahnaz, Christopher Bagley * , Padam Simkhada, Sadia Kadri Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK Abstract The objectives of this review are to explore through a scoping analysis of pub- lished literature, the prevalence of suicidal ideation, attempts and suicide, and the correlates and presumed causes of such behaviours in Bangladesh, in or- der to develop a model of public health research and prevention. This type of review aims to contextualise existing knowledge, set it within a practice and policy context, and make recommendations for health care service delivery and evaluation. The evidence indicates an unusual pattern of completed sui- cide rates, those most at risk being younger women. The rate in adolescent girls is exceptionally high by international standards, and appears to reflect poverty, the low status of women, violence directed against girls and women, and forced marriages of young, teenage girls. Keywords Bangladesh, Scoping Review, Suicidal Behaviours, Adolescents, Child Marriage, Public Health, Suicide Prevention 1. Introduction and Overview In this paper we briefly describe the geography, demographics and social struc- ture of Bangladesh, a “low, middle-income” country which has many health re- lated problems including those associated with high levels of morbidity and premature mortality in various disadvantaged groups. Suicidal behaviours have not been extensively studied in Bangladesh, and mental health issues have a generally low priority in research and prevention, given both the stigma associ- ated with mental illness, and the demands on limited health care budgets. We begin by establishing the definitions of “suicidal behaviour” which have emerged in western research in the past 30 years, and problems and issues in defining and How to cite this paper: Shahnaz, A., Bag- ley, C., Simkhada, P. and Kadri, S. (2017) Suicidal Behaviour in Bangladesh: A Scop- ing Literature Review and a Proposed Pub- lic Health Prevention Model. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 254-282. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.57016 Received: June 2, 2017 Accepted: July 16, 2017 Published: July 19, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access