Suicide - Durkheim

Suicide - Durkheim

1. According to Durkheim, suicide isn't an individual act. It is caused by some power which is over and above the individual. Suicide is the result of social disorganization, lack of social integration or social solidarity.

   • Durkheim used suicide as he wanted to prove that our actions are influenced by wider social forces in which we have no control over. By doing this he could prove that sociology is a scientific discipline.
     • Positivists essentially say that sociology is a science because we can observe society and make laws from what we see. Durkheim discovered that there are patterns in suicide and their social causes can be discovered too, thus proving that sociology is a science.
   • Suicide is a social fact, which is a social force external to the individual in the structure of society. Suicide can't be down to just individual motives because there are huge differences between groups in societies, compared to other societies.

2. Suicide rates.

   • Suicide rates are a social fact. Durkheim used comparative method (making comparisons between data to identify differences) and official statistics (comparisons between European countries).
   • Durkheim was the first to use multi-variate analysis - this enabled him to correlate suicide rates with other social factors, i.e. religion, marriage etc.
   • Higher among Protestants than Catholics & Jews, higher in times of peace than war, higher for single people than married people.

3. Durkheim classified different types of suicides on the basis of different types of relationships between the individual and society, based on integration and regulation.

   • Egoistic suicide - this happens when people feel totally detached from society. People are integrated into society by weak roles, family ties etc. When these bonds are weakened, the likelihood of egoistic increases. (under integrated)
   • Altruistic suicide - this occurs when a person sacrifices their own life out of a sense of duty to others, i.e. they believe their own suicide will benefit society. This happens when there's too much integration and individuals are too close. (over integrated)
   • Anomic suicide - this type of suicide happens when the disintegrating forces in society makes individuals feel lost or alone. People are naturally selfish and will look after their own interests, unless society restricts their actions by stating what is acceptable. This is most likely to occur in periods of rapid social change. (under regulated)
   • Fatalistic suicide - this occurs in overly oppressive societies, causing people to prefer to die rather than carrying on living in society. (over regulated)