Autumn Hatch

First Name: 
Autumn
Last Name: 
Hatch
Mentor: 
Dr. Konstantia Kapetangianni
Abstract: 
Features of suicide notes have attracted the interest of forensic researchers in many fields. The research question explored in this study is how suicide note length, determiner and pronoun usage differ between genders. Studies regarding author identification and gender argue that women’s texts are longer than men’s (Fernández-Cabanaa, Jiménez-Féliz, Alves-Pérez, Mateos, Rodríguez, and García-Caballeroa 145). Men show increased determiner usage and women display heightened pronoun employment (Gill 25). This study compared 30 English speakers’ suicide notes aged 16-61 divided by sex. Results indicate women’s notes are 17.12% longer than men’s, contain 9.76% more determiners and 22.83% more pronouns. These linguistic markers as distinguishing characteristics are applicable toward issues such as, gender inequality, suicide prevention strategies, author identification, crime solving, and matters of national security.
Poster: 
Determiners, Pronouns, and Word Count: A Study of Authorship in Suicide Notes
Year: 
2021