2. Lesson Objectives
• Look at what Sociology can tell us about
the causes of and reasons for suicide
• Introduce the main sociological
perspectives on suicide
• Be able to list strengths and
weaknesses of different explanations of
suicide
4. Defining Suicide
Defining suicide is an issue which needs to be
considered before we can investigate the
reasons behind suicide.
Interpretivist's would argue that we know
whether someone has committed suicide or
not because we use our interpretation.
Although we all interpret situations differently
– therefore can we define suicide
specifically?
What is your definition of suicide?
6. Positivism and Suicide
What key words can you remember in
relation to positivism?
How can those key words be applied to
suicide?
What types of research methods do
Positivists use?
7. Positivism and Suicide
Durkheim is one of the most useful
examples to use when explaining
Positivism and suicide.
Durkheim decided to study 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 was a
scientific discipline
8. Positivism and Suicide
Durkheim examined explanations for Suicide:
• Climate (no effect)
• Psychological explanations (inadequate)
• Accepted that some people may be psychologically
more predisposed (depression)
• Rejected view that psychological factors explain the
differences in suicide rates of whole groups/societies
e.g. Jews had higher rates of mental illness than
Protestants but lower suicide rates
9. Durkheim’s Definition of Suicide
“all causes of death resulting directly
or indirectly from a positive or a
negative view of himself, which he
knows will produce this result”
10. Suicide Rates as Social Facts
Durkheim stated our behaviour is caused
by social facts- forces found in the
structure of society.
Social factors are:
1. External to individuals
2. Constrain individuals, shaping their behaviour
3. Greater than individuals- exist on a different level
11. Durkheim's Methodology
For Durkheim suicide rate is a social fact
• Comparative method – making
comparisons between data to identify
differences.
• Official Statistics – Durkheim used
these to make comparisons between
European countries.
12. Durkheim’s Discoveries
1. Suicide rates varied between countries
although overall they were fairly
stable (remained constant over time)
2. When rates did change they coincided
with other changes e.g. Rates fell during war
time but rose during economic depression
3. Within a society Suicide rates varied
between groups e.g. Catholics lower than
Protestants, Married with children lower than
single, widowed & childless
13. Durkheim’s Discoveries
From Durkheim’s discoveries he concluded that suicide rates were not
driven by individuals but by wider social forces.
If suicide was driven by individuals then suicide rates would have been
more scattered.
AO2: Durkheim was first to use multivariate analysis, enabling
him to correlate suicide rates with other social factors
e.g. religion, marital status.
Without this it would not be possible to establish cause and effect
Relationships
14. Durkheim’s Discoveries
The patterns of suicide rates are a result of two
social facts
Social Integration- how far individuals experience a
sense of belonging to a group
Moral Regulation- how far individuals actions are kept
in check by norms and values
15. Durkheim’s Categorisation of Suicide
Type of Suicide
Egoistic
Social Lack of Integration
B
Integration A Altruistic
Over-Integration
L
A
N Lack of Regulation Anomic
Moral C
Regulation E
Over-Regulation Fatalistic
Read the definitions for each of these types of suicide and summarise
16. What type of suicide?
[Some cases may be more than one]
What type of suicide would Durkheim say the below cases were:
Suicide by a lottery winner.
Suicide by a widowed person.
Suicide by a long-term unemployed person.
Suicide by prisoners.
Suicide by divorced people.
Suicide by members of the radical Islamic Hamas group.
Suicide by Jews in a German concentration camp during the war.
Read through Suicide and types of Society
(pg 148)
17. Positivist Response to Durkheim
Halbwachs (1930)
Halbwachs claimed that Durkheim over
emphasised the influence religion has over
suicide. Halbwachs claims that living in a rural
or urban area has more of an impact.
Sainsbury (1955)
Suicide rates in London boroughs were highest
where the levels of social disorganisation
(divorce/illegitimacy) were highest
18. AO2:
Later Positivists criticised Durkheim for not
operationalising his concepts (Gibbs & Martin)
Issues with reliability and validity of his statistics; in 19th
century autopsies were rarely preformed and many states
did not collect stats systematically
Denies importance of choice in acts of suicide
Gives a scientific explanations of Suicide
Doesn’t explain why some people commit suicide and others
stop themselves when they are in the same situation
Explains different suicide rates in different countries
by reference to social characteristics
Emphasises power of social forces in shaping individuals lives
How can we prove it was intentional?What about acts that lead to death but were accidental etc
ScienceObserving patterns in natural worldDevelop laws of causes and effect to explain themObjectiveQuantitativeGoal of Sociology should be to produce laws to explain observed patterns in human behaviourSociology can discover real scientific laws. There are observable patterns or irregularities in human behaviour and we can discover casual explanations (laws) for them.
Durkheim first to study Suicide in a Sociological manner in late 19th centuryUsed his study of Suicide as part of a project to demonstrate the validity of Sociology as a subject
Durkheim first to study Suicide in a Sociological manner in late 19th centuryUsed his study of Suicide as part of a project to demonstrate the validity of Sociology as a subject Protestantism is one of the three major groupings (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism) within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology
Used OS to analyse suicide rates over a period of several decades in the 19th century
He used a technique now called ‘multivariate analysis’, which consisted of comparing the incidence of various social factors with the frequency of a particular event – in this case suicide.He therefore studied the statistics of suicide that he collected from death certificates and other official documents and found a number of clear patterns.
EgoisticThis type of suicide occurs when an individual is under integrated in society. (Industrial societies) e.g. unmarried people have no family ties so they are more likely to commit suicide than married people who have families E.g. The rates of suicide are higher amongst Protestants than Catholics and Protestants have a looser social network. Catholics also have a strict systemAltruisticThis type of suicide occurs when an individual has become over integrated into society. So integrated that they would sacrifice themselves as a sense of duty to others. Pre Industrial SocietyE.g. Followers who commit suicide after the death of a leader – A modern example is terrorist suicide bombers. Anomic This type of suicide occurs when society has a lack of control over individuals, a lack of regulation exists. Industrial societiesE.g. When economic depression or rapid change (economic booms) occurs people find it difficult to adapt to the changes. FatalisticThis type of suicide occurs when society has too much regulation and control over people’s lives. Pre IndustrialE.g. Prisoners or Slaves who have no control over themselves but are controlled by others. Also people being bullied
Or Diagnose the Suicide sheet
Halwachs waned to add more recent and reliable stats to Durkheim’s theoryHalbwachs argued that differences between urban and rural residence were the main reason for variations in suicide Higher rates among protestants, people living alone and so on were more a function of their urban location- these groups were more likely to be found in towns where people lead more isolated lives.Gibbs and Porterfield (1960)Gibbs and Porterfield studied suicide statistics for New Zealand and found them useful as the provide an individuals occupation class at birth and death. From this they then drew conclusions.