Durkheimian Analysis of Heat Wave
Six hundred and fifty-eight. This is the number of American citizens who suffer from heat-related deaths each year.1 To put that into perspective, it is coincidentally the exact number of students suffering in Virginia Tech’s air-condition-lacking Slusher Residence Hall.2 During the summer of 1995, Chicago was hit with one of the deadliest heat waves on record. In the nine-day span of July 12 to 20, more than seven-hundred weather-related deaths were recorded.3 Through research for his 2002 book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, Eric Klinenberg discovered a direct connection between a neighborhood’s poverty level and heat-related body count.4 This realization opens the door for an even greater …show more content…
This term is the other key point to assist in describing the four types of suicide. It is the extent by which a society regulates one’s liberties of individuality. This regulation is done through limitations set on the individual’s ambitions, dreams, roles, and expectations. The overregulation of these liberties, although a characteristic of high interconnectivity, result in a higher rate of altruistic suicide. Similarly, a society with too much social regulation will result in a higher fatalistic suicide rate. This exists conversely to the fourth type: anomic. Originating from the French word, ‘anomie’, this means a state of normlessness. It shows prominence in a time of revolution or change -- when individuals struggle to find their niche to exist within …show more content…
Being a time of anomie, many people placed their primary focus on themselves. This meant anyone too poor to leave, such as the disabled or the elderly, would find themselves abandoned. In turn, this left a large population isolated and incapacitated. This was a time-bomb – destined for disaster. When the heat wave struck, there was nothing this incapacitated population could do. If they were not lucky enough to receive help, they perished.
It can be concluded that Little Village had a much higher social integration than North Lawndale. Had the people of North Lawndale been more integrated, the majority would have felt socially obligated to assure the safety of the elderly and disabled. Additionally, North Lawndale likely had very low level of social regulation compared to Little Village. With higher regulation, these people would have been less likely isolated in the first place. Individuals would have felt obligated to look out for the elderly and the
Six hundred and fifty-eight. This is the number of American citizens who suffer from heat-related deaths each year.1 To put that into perspective, it is coincidentally the exact number of students suffering in Virginia Tech’s air-condition-lacking Slusher Residence Hall.2 During the summer of 1995, Chicago was hit with one of the deadliest heat waves on record. In the nine-day span of July 12 to 20, more than seven-hundred weather-related deaths were recorded.3 Through research for his 2002 book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, Eric Klinenberg discovered a direct connection between a neighborhood’s poverty level and heat-related body count.4 This realization opens the door for an even greater …show more content…
This term is the other key point to assist in describing the four types of suicide. It is the extent by which a society regulates one’s liberties of individuality. This regulation is done through limitations set on the individual’s ambitions, dreams, roles, and expectations. The overregulation of these liberties, although a characteristic of high interconnectivity, result in a higher rate of altruistic suicide. Similarly, a society with too much social regulation will result in a higher fatalistic suicide rate. This exists conversely to the fourth type: anomic. Originating from the French word, ‘anomie’, this means a state of normlessness. It shows prominence in a time of revolution or change -- when individuals struggle to find their niche to exist within …show more content…
Being a time of anomie, many people placed their primary focus on themselves. This meant anyone too poor to leave, such as the disabled or the elderly, would find themselves abandoned. In turn, this left a large population isolated and incapacitated. This was a time-bomb – destined for disaster. When the heat wave struck, there was nothing this incapacitated population could do. If they were not lucky enough to receive help, they perished.
It can be concluded that Little Village had a much higher social integration than North Lawndale. Had the people of North Lawndale been more integrated, the majority would have felt socially obligated to assure the safety of the elderly and disabled. Additionally, North Lawndale likely had very low level of social regulation compared to Little Village. With higher regulation, these people would have been less likely isolated in the first place. Individuals would have felt obligated to look out for the elderly and the