How the ideas of Durkheim have helped my understanding of one of the following aspects of contemporary society – suicide.
For my essay I chose to examine the sociological work of Émile Durkheim relating to his study of suicide. When researching suicide, you have to ask yourself a few questions; is suicide an individual matter? Or are there sociological factors influencing suicide rates? Durkheim was the first to argue that the causes of suicide were to be found in social factors and not individual personalities alone. Durkheim released a book titled “Suicide” in 1897, a publication unique for its time that provided a ground breaking book in the field of sociology. Durkheim studied the variation in the suicide rate between distinctive groups …show more content…
(Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Durkheim discovered that suicide rates are higher among soldiers than civilians, “The greater frequency of suicides amongst soldiers than civilians and amongst officers than other ranks leads him to posit that this is altruistic suicide in which the individual sees his life as less important than conformity to group norms.” (Mitchell, 1968, pg.60) Durkheim also discovered that suicide rates are higher among Protestants than Catholics and Jews, “The greater frequency of suicide amongst Protestants than Roman Catholics is seen as due to a social order in which the individual is required to work out his own salvation – in this case the individual commits egotistic suicide”. (Mitchell, 1968, pg.60 – 61) Anomic suicide is related to an individual’s lack of social regulation. During a time such as an economic turmoil or a personal struggle such as divorce can “upset the balance between people’s circumstances and their desires” (Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Fatalistic suicide was believed to be related to an individual being over-regulated by society and therefore “a feeling of powerlessness before fate or society” (Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Durkheim was able to identify and prove his theory that causes of suicide were to be found in social factors and not individual personalities alone. Of course suicide rates may range between societies however they do show a regular pattern within
For my essay I chose to examine the sociological work of Émile Durkheim relating to his study of suicide. When researching suicide, you have to ask yourself a few questions; is suicide an individual matter? Or are there sociological factors influencing suicide rates? Durkheim was the first to argue that the causes of suicide were to be found in social factors and not individual personalities alone. Durkheim released a book titled “Suicide” in 1897, a publication unique for its time that provided a ground breaking book in the field of sociology. Durkheim studied the variation in the suicide rate between distinctive groups …show more content…
(Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Durkheim discovered that suicide rates are higher among soldiers than civilians, “The greater frequency of suicides amongst soldiers than civilians and amongst officers than other ranks leads him to posit that this is altruistic suicide in which the individual sees his life as less important than conformity to group norms.” (Mitchell, 1968, pg.60) Durkheim also discovered that suicide rates are higher among Protestants than Catholics and Jews, “The greater frequency of suicide amongst Protestants than Roman Catholics is seen as due to a social order in which the individual is required to work out his own salvation – in this case the individual commits egotistic suicide”. (Mitchell, 1968, pg.60 – 61) Anomic suicide is related to an individual’s lack of social regulation. During a time such as an economic turmoil or a personal struggle such as divorce can “upset the balance between people’s circumstances and their desires” (Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Fatalistic suicide was believed to be related to an individual being over-regulated by society and therefore “a feeling of powerlessness before fate or society” (Giddens, 2006, pg.15) Durkheim was able to identify and prove his theory that causes of suicide were to be found in social factors and not individual personalities alone. Of course suicide rates may range between societies however they do show a regular pattern within