Hope Theory: A Framework for Understanding Suicidal Action

This article examines C. R. Snyder's (1994 Snyder , C. R. ( 1994 ). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here . New York : Free Press . Google Scholar 2000a Snyder , C. R. ( 2000a ). Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications . San Diego : Academic Press .Crossref , Google Scholar) theory of hope and its application for understanding suicide. Strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the suicide literature are outlined, and A. T. Beck's theory of hopelessness is compared with Snyder's hope theory. Hope theory constructs are used to examine the relationship of suicide to hope/hopelessness, goals, pathways thinking, and agency thinking. This critical review is intended to broaden our theoretical understanding of suicide and is meant to form the basis for future empirical investigation of suicide-related behavior using the framework of hope theory. Implications for suicide prevention programs and approaches to treating suicidal individuals are outlined.