Emile Durkheim On Suicide Analysis

Is Durkheim Induitable? A Look Into Modern Suicide Data
Emile Durkheim speaks with conviction, like a man self assured that his facts are correct and confident in his analysis, a man who never questioned himself. Modern scholar do not look at him with such assured eyes. From the fundamental basis of his analysis to the sources of his information, everything about Durkheim’s work has been questioned. Notably, there is serious debate as to whether or not the facts he based his data on have passed the tests of time. Serious inquiry as to the enduring truth of Durkheim’s conclusions must first decide whether or not his data continues to back those conclusions. By comparing his conclusions to data and similar statistics from modern studies, one …show more content…
Despite not having any theological differences on suicide, the groups vary do to vary rates of social cohesion and integration, with is key to the development of his social theory. On average, he reports, Protestant states have 190 suicides per million inhabitants, Mixed states have 96, and Catholic states have 58. Perhaps most surprisingly, this data has held up surprisingly well, with study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion in 2014 concluding that “even though theological and social differences between Catholicism and Protestantism have decreased, Catholics are still less likely than Protestants to commit or accept suicide. This difference holds even after we control for such confounding factors as social and religious networks,” and “once social factors like church attendance or importance of family are controlled for, Protestants are more likely to be accepting of the suicide option,” (Torgler). This study is supported by others which all conclude that, strength of faith and church attendance held constant, Protestants are more likely to commit suicide than Catholics. This conclusion of Durkheim’s also seems to be supported by the