POSITIVISM AND SUICIDE

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A-Level A2 SOCIOLOGY (Crime and deviance: Suicide) Flashcards on POSITIVISM AND SUICIDE , created by ashiana121 on 01/07/2016.
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Question Answer
Where/who did the first major contribution to the sociological understanding of suicide come from? Emile Durkheim, late 19th century
What is positivism? The belief that society should be studies scientifically and objectively
According to positivism, what should the goal of sociology be? To produce laws to explain observed patterns in human behaviour
Durkheim believed that he could show suicide has ______ causes social
For Durkheim, the suicide rate is a ______ ____ Social fact
What type of data did Durkheim study? Quantitative data from official statistics Suicide rates in various European countries
How many regular patterns did he identify? Four
1. Suicide rates for a given society remained constant over time
2. When the rates changed, it coincided with other changes (war, recession, prosperity)
3. Different societies have different rates
4. Within a society, rates varied between different social groups Catholics lower than protestants Single more than married Rich more than poor
What were these patterns evidence of? That suicide rates cannot be simply be the result of the motives of individuals
Durkheim explains the suicide rate as the effect of ______ _______ _______ ____ ___________ Social forces acting upon individuals
In different social groups, these forces act with different intensities, resulting in... Different suicide rates for different social groups
How many social forces does Durkheim identify that act on individuals and determine suicide rates? 2
What are they? Social integration Moral regulation
What is meant by social integration? The extent to which individuals experience a sense of belonging to a group High integration = strong bonds and sense of duty
What is meant by moral regulation? The extent to which individuals actions and desires are kept in check by norms and values
In relation to these, what does Durkheim argue suicide results from? Too much or too little integration and regulation
This gives a classification system of suicide. How many types of suicide are there in this classification system? Four
What are the names of these? Egoistic Altruistic Anomic Fatalistic
Which two are typical of pre-industrial societies? Altruistic Fatalistic
What type of society are egoistic and anomic suicides typical of? Industrial socieities
Egoistic suicides result from... Too LITTLE integration
Anomic suicides result from... Too LITTLE regulation
Which does Durkheim argue is the most common type of suicide? Egoistic
Egoistic suicides are caused by excessive _____________ a lack of ______ ____ and obligation to others Excessive individualism Lack of social ties
What do anomic suicides refer to? Caused by too little moral regulation 'normlessness' deregulation Societies norms become unclear due to rapid social change Creates uncertainty
Fatalistic and altruistic suicides are typical of pre-industrial societies. Which one is caused by TOO MUCH integration? Altruistic
Explain altruistic suicides Caused by too much social integration Putting others before oneself Individual has little value Group interests override that of the individual Self-sacrifice for the good of the group
Fatalistic suicides are caused by TOO MUCH what? Moral regulation
What does this mean? Individuals believe they can do nothing to change their fate Found where society excessively controls individuals e.g Slaves and prisoners
Out of the two types of society, modern industrial and traditional pre-industrial, which has higher levels of integration and regulation? Pre-industrial
What 2 types of suicide does this mean are typical of pre-industrial societies? Altruistic - high integration Fatalistic - high regulation
Who are responsible for the other positivist approach to explaining suicide? Gibbs and Martin
What is their main argument about Durkheim's study? He fails to operationalise the concept of integration
How do Gibbs and Martin go on to define integration? A situation where there are stable and lasting relationships
Where, do Gibbs and Martin argue these tend to occur? When an individual has status integration - compatible status' that do not conflict with one another
Gibbs and Martin predict that in societies where there is little status integration (e.g where well educated people are forced to work low status jobs) suicide rates will be... Higher
What is another argument of Durkheim study? Data is unreliable and incomplete
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