Existential liminality and ethical reconstruction in probationary suicidality: A philosophical reading through Mircea Eliade and Aṣṭāṅga Yoga

Summary

People under probation supervision die by suicide at higher rates than the general population. Standard prevention relies on clinical risk assessment and multi-agency work. This theoretical paper develops a conceptual framework drawing on Aṣṭāṅga Yoga philosophy—emphasizing ethical self-cultivation, embodied awareness, and transformative introspection—to reinterpret suicidality in probation contexts. It examines established psychological models (Shneidman's Psychache, Joiner's Interpersonal Theory, Williams' Cry of Pain, O'Connor's Integrated Motivational-Volitional model) and argues that integrating moral reflection and somatic mindfulness may promote psychological resilience, autonomy, and social reintegration. Mircea Eliade's philosophy frames probation as existential liminality requiring symbolic reintegration; Richard Shusterman's pragmatist somaesthetics further supports the approach.

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Abstract

Abstract Suicide among individuals under probation supervision constitutes a significant concern within public health and criminal justice systems, owing to rates that consistently exceed those observed in the general population. Conventional approaches to suicide prevention primarily emphasise clinical interventions, psychological risk assessments, and multi-agency collaboration. In contrast, an emerging body of literature in philosophical and contemplative traditions, particularly that concerning Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, offers complementary methodologies grounded in ethical self-cultivation, embodied awareness, and transformative introspection. The present article is a theoretical and philosophical inquiry. It does not aim to provide empirical validation but to develop a conceptual framework that reinterprets suicidality in probation contexts through a cross-cultural philosophical lens. The analysis further draws on established psychological models of suicide, including Shneidman's Psychache model , Joiner's Interpersonal Theory , Williams' Cry of Pain model , and O'Connor's Integrated Motivational-Volitional model , to examine how the existential, ethical, and symbolic dimensions of suicidality may enrich and extend clinical understandings of suicide risk. The paper investigates the potential contributions of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga philosophy and ethics to suicide prevention in probation contexts, arguing that its integration of moral reflection and somatic mindfulness may promote psychological resilience, autonomy, and sustainable reintegration into the fabric of society. In doing so, the discussion draws upon Mircea Eliade's philosophy of religion to frame probation not simply as a legal condition, but as a modern instance of existential liminality , in which symbolic reintegration becomes essential to survival. The paper also approaches Aṣṭāṅga Yoga through the perspective of pragmatist philosophy, with particular emphasis on practical somaesthetics as developed by Richard Shusterman.

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