Understanding Suicide in Socially Vulnerable Contexts: Psychological Autopsy in a Small Town in Mexico ANA-MAR  IA CH  AVEZ-HERN  ANDEZ,PHD, AND LUIS-FERNANDO MAC  IAS-GARC  IA,PHD In Mexico, suicides are increasing in certain latitudes where local rates have grown to levels of alert; suicide is also the second most common cause of death for the group aged 15 to 19. The psychological autopsy method was uti- lized to uncover and analyze common factors in all of the registered suicides within 2011 and 2012 in a small town of the state of Guanajuato, located in the center of Mexico. A total of nine decedents were analyzed, and 22 interviews were conducted. The most salient factors were as follows: poverty, financial stress, substance abuse, low levels of education, conflictive relationships, and a poor handling of emotions. The concepts of social exclusion and vulnerability were employed to analyze suicides as symptoms of a much deeper problem of this country, suggesting that anomie and social malady are nowadays important suicidal factors, mostly for children and young people. SUICIDE AND VIOLENT DEATHS IN MEXICO Suicide is a public health concern in Mex- ico. In 2011, suicide accounted for 7.6% of all violent deaths, with the most affected group being those aged 15 to 24; suicide has become the second most common cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19, with a significant increase in suicides in the group aged 10 to 14 (National Institute of Statistics & Geography [INEGI], 2013). Although suicide rates in Mexico have been historically lower than the world average, there are some states where these numbers have climbed to levels of alert (above 10 per 100,000 inhabitants). The increase in sui- cides contrasts with the lack of national strategies to address this problem compre- hensively. The number of violent deaths in Mexico, including those by homicide, has risen in recent years. In 2014, the number of missing people exceeded 23,000, and the ongoing war on drugs has resulted in a rate of 25 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants; it is worth mentioning that homicide rates in Mexico affect those aged 10 to 29 most sig- nificantly (Alvarado-Mendoza, 2014). Insecurity affects all social sectors of the Mexican population and has increased due to the malfunctioning of job and finan- cial markets and because of the weakening of state institutions, affected by corruption and organized crime. ANA-MAR  IA CH  AVEZ-HERN  ANDEZ, Depart- ment of Psychology, University of Guanajuato, Leon, Mexico; LUIS-FERNANDO MAC  IAS-GARC  IA, Department of Philosophy, University of Guan- ajuato, Leon, Mexico. This study was financially supported by the University of Guanajuato (Institutional Call 2013). Address correspondence to Ana-Mar  ıa Ch avez-Hern andez, Department of Psychology, University of Guanajuato, Leon, Mexico; E-mail: anamachavez@hotmail.com Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 46 (1) February 2016 3 © 2015 The American Association of Suicidology DOI: 10.1111/sltb.12166