Analysis of Meaning; Reasons and Consequences of Self-Immolation from the Perspective of Women Activists

The purpose of the present research is to explore the lived experience of women attempted to suicide, with emphasis on Self-immolation in order to make hypotheses to answer why they choose the Self-immolation method. This paper has been done through a qualitative method, exploiting the methodological approach of grounded theory. The study population is women who have had successful and unsuccessful self-immolation, as well as key informants such as their families and relatives, was selected using in-depth and semi-standard interview techniques, based on the dimensions of the method approach, which include receiving phenomena, causal conditions, conditions, contexts, structural conditions, strategies and consequences. Qualitative data have been continuously analyzed comparatively through coding. The sample size of 29 cases was determined based on theoretical saturation and the findings were validated by confirmation and adaptation with the opinion of expert judges and key informants. Findings suggested that sociological ambivalence conditions (the challenge of tribe or racial prejudicial norms with religious, native, local and media doctrines and modernity doctrines) would affect the motivation of women in Ilam city to change the conditions of patriarchy, and attempt to Self-immolation as a rational- punitive act with great influence on changing conditions. But, according to Marcuse, this choice has an irrational consequence. Meanwhile, a major difference between choice of Self-immolation and other suicide methods has originated in the motivation to change the conditions of patriarchy, while main motivation for other methods is to escape from that situation.