https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_mPnv-rCpA&feature=youtu.

be

Suicide Emile Durkheim

p147

Is suicide a result of an
individual's motives, or as
a result of their social
facts / forces?

Positivist - Sociology as a science

Durkheim was studying suicide in the late 19th century
(1800s). At this time, Sociology wasnt seen as a real
thing, and was trying to make a name for itself as a
science.
By studying suicide, Durkheim believed that he could make
a name for sociology.

Read the first 4

paragraphs on a
background of suicide p147

Durkheim believed that all behaviour can be

related to the structure of society
He studied suicide by comparing statistics from three
countries across Europe to try and find a common link in
their behaviour and their society / surroundings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAU2HUT9sYU

Results
He found that the rates of suicide stayed the same over
time but changed depending on the social groups that a
person was in. He therefore argued that suicide is a
product of social facts.

Lukes (1992) argues that social facts have three

features:
- They are external to individuals
- They constrain (restrict) individuals which shapes
their behaviour
- They are a greater power than individuals

What are social facts?

"A social fact is any way of acting, whether fixed or not, capable of exerting
over the individual an external constraint;
or:
which is general over the whole of a given society whilst having an existence
of its own, independent of its individual manifestations".
He viewed it as a concrete idea that affected a person's everyday life
Norms, values, social structures etc

The two main types of social facts:

Social Integration:
The sense of a belonging to a group of people and an obligation to its
members. In highly integrated societies, people feel a strong bond and a
sense of duty to others.
Moral Regulation:
The way in which individuals actions are kept in check by norms and values.
Without regulation by socially defined goals and rules, individuals cannot be
satisfied.

Durkheim believed that the suicide rate is a social

fact and found 4 patterns:
1. Suicide rates for all societies remain more or less constant over
time
2. When the rates did change, it was at the same time as other
changes (eg war, economic depression)
3. The rate is very different in each country
4. Different social groups within a society had very different rates
of suicide. Eg, Catholics had a lower suicide rate than protestants,
married people with children had lower rates than single people).

Durkheim argues...
Suicide is a result of social forces and is when an
individual is either overly to underly (too much / too little)
integration / regulated.
He gives the example of Paris. The population of Paris is
constantly changing but the suicide rate stays the same.
This would mean that its not the individuals but the city
that causes the problems.

Is suicide a result of an
individual's motives, or as
a result of their social
facts / forces?

Remember:
Durkheim stated that either too much or too
little integration or regulation leads to suicide

Modern and traditional societies have different

levels of integration and regulation
Because of this, there are different types of suicide found in the different
types of society.
Modern (industrialised) societies have lower levels of integration. Individuals
rights and freedoms become more important than that of the group which
weakens social bonds. Modern societies are also constantly changing which
undermines norms and values.
Traditional (pre industrial) societies have high levels of integration. The
group is more important than the individual. Peoples lives are highly regulated
against the norms and values.

Industrialised

Pre - Industrialised

4 typologies of suicide
Egoistic Suicide
Altruistic Suicide
Anomic Suicide
Fatalistic Suicide

Egoistic Suicide
Too little social integration.
This is the most common type of suicide in
late modern society. Caused by a lack of
obligation to others and a lack of social ties.
Explains the lower rate amongst Catholics as
they have a stronger moral guidance and
shared beliefs than protestants.

Anomic Suicide

Altruistic Suicide
Too much social integration.
The opposite of egoistic and occurs when the
individual feels an obligation to do right by
the group over their own feelings. The person
feels its their duty to die.
Examples:

Fatalistic Suicide

Too little moral regulation.

Too much moral regulation.

Normlessness. Happens when the norms

become unclear or are made redundant by
fast social change. Leaves individuals not
knowing what society expects of them.

The opposite of anomic. The belief that the

individual can do nothing to affect their
situation. Happens when society controls the
individual completely.

Examples:

Examples:

Egoistic Suicide
Too little social integration.
This is the most common type of suicide in
late modern society. Caused by a lack of
obligation to others and a lack of social ties.
Explains the lower rate amongst Catholics as
they have a stronger moral guidance and
shared beliefs than protestants.

Anomic Suicide

Altruistic Suicide
Too much social integration.
The opposite of egoistic and occurs when the
individual feels an obligation to do right by
the group over their own feelings. The person
feels its their duty to die.
Example: suicide bombers

Fatalistic Suicide

Too little moral regulation.

Too much moral integration.

Normlessness. Happens when the norms

become unclear or are made redundant by
fast social change. Leaves individuals not
knowing what society expects of them.

The opposite of anomic. The belief that the

individual can do nothing to affect their
situation. Happens when society controls the
individual completely.

Examples: economic slumps, unemployment

Examples: prisoners, slaves

Industrialised

Pre - Industrialised

What are the 4 different

types of suicide according
to Durkheim?
What are the two main factors that explain these
typologies?

What does this graph tell us?

Since Durkheim...
Other positivists have tried to build on his work.
Halbwachs (1930) had more recent and more reliable statistics to Durkheim.
He agreed with Durkheims findings but argued that the difference in suicide
rates was down to whether a person was in an urban (city) location or a rural
(countryside location).
People in a town are more likely to live a more isolated life - single, living alone
etc.

Sainsbury (1955)
In London (where there is a higher rate of divorce and illegitimacy) the
suicide rate is higher. It was as a result of a social problem as opposed to
living in a city.

Gibbs and Martin (1964)

Durkheim does not define his concept of integration in a way that can be
measured.
Integration = a situation where they are stable and have lasting relationships.

When two statuses do not go together, the suicide rate is higher. For
example - when a person with a high status gets a low status job, the chance
of suicide is greater.

Durkheim criticisms
His statistics are said to be unreliable and incomplete. In the 19th century,
the causes of death were not scientific and medical knowledge was limited.
Did the countries he study have the structure in place to study enough people
over a wide area and keep accurate records on an international basis.

What else?

Quick Check
P153

Questions 1-4

Positivism:
Sociology should be studied as
a science
Uses quantitative methods
The world has social facts
which is shown through
statistics and correlations
Behaviour can be generalised
to the rest of the world
Human behaviour is shaped by
external factors

Interpretivism
Sociology should focus on
meanings and motives of the
actors (individuals)
Uses qualitative methods
People work out the meaning
before they react
Human behaviour is shaped by
internal factors (in their mind)

Interpretivism and Suicide

Positivists looked at the social facts surrounding suicide.
Interpretivists, however, have tried to find meanings of
suicide for the people involved.

Douglas (1967)
He focuses on the meaning that suicide has for the person who died and
why / how coroners label deaths as suicide.
He criticises Durkheim for two main reasons: (leave a gap between these
subheadings)
Using statistics
Actors meaning and qualitative data

What is the problem with suicide statistics?

The death is decided by a coroner which may produce a bias.
Integrated individuals may have family and friends who are in denial about
their loved one committing suicide. Integration helps against the labelling
and recording of a suicide.
Socially isolated people would have nobody to fight against a suicide verdict
The statistics are constructed as a result of interactions and negotiations.

Actors meanings / Qualitative Data

Durkheim ignores the meanings behind the act itself and assumes that
suicide is a constant fixed meaning.
The meaning of suicide can change between cultures and therefore he
cannot draw the same conclusions
You cannot classify deaths in terms of their social causes / facts. Each
suicide must be looked at in terms of the meaning for the deceased.
Douglas believes that if Durkheim used qualitative data it would overcome
all of the problems that statistics bring.

Although Douglas criticises Durkheim, people also

criticise Douglas...
Who is to say that a sociologist can give a better meaning to a suicide than
a coroner?
Sainsbury and Barraclough (1968) argue that statistics are a valid
representation of suicides.
Douglas is always arguing that we should know the meaning of the suicide,
but how can you find the meaning if the person is no longer with us and
we only have the coroner's verdict to go from.

Read the article

In pairs, discuss how you could use the ideas of Durkheim
to explain these cases.

Atkinson - ethnomethodology (people making

sense of the world) and suicide
Atkinson doesnt accept that a real rate of suicide exists as a reality.
The suicide rate is not an exact record of how many suicides there
have been.
He focuses on the methods used by coroners to categorise some
deaths as suicides.

Atkinsons study
RESEARCH METHOD: He carried out interviews with coroners &
attended inquests in three different towns. He also observed a
coroners officer at work & examined some of the records of a
particular coroner.
EVALUATION: Atkinson has used a more thorough empirical
approach to support his theoretical claims and it makes us seriously
think about the social construction of the suicide statistics.

Atkinson argues that coroners have a commonsense theory of

suicide.
If information about the deceased person fits their theory, they
are likely to record a suicide verdict.

What behaviours would you expect of a suicidal person?

What information would you, as a Coroner, want in order to arrive at a
verdict of suicide?

Coroners consider four types of evidence when trying to reach a

verdict:
i) suicide notes;
ii) mode of death;
iii) location and circumstances of death &
iv) the biography of the deceased mental health history, things
happening in their lives etc.

Taylor realism and suicide

Taylor agrees that suicide statistics are unreliable.
Over the course of one year, he found 32 cases of deaths on the London
Underground where there were no strong clues as the reason for the deaths
(inconclusive).
No suicide notes were left and there were no witnesses who could say if the
person had jumped.

Taylors study
It was impossible to say with any certainty if these 32 had been
suicide.
Despite this, 17/32 of the deaths were recorded as suicide, 5/32
were classified as accidental and 10/32 were left as open verdicts
(undecided).

Taylor found that a number of factors made a suicide verdict more

likely;
i) deceased people with mental health issues and/or had suffered
from some form of social failure or disgrace, were more likely to be
recorded as suicide;
ii) when the deceased had no good reason to be at the train station;
iii) the verdict was strongly influenced by witnesses who testified to
the dead persons state of mind if they were close friends or
relatives of the deceased, they were more likely to deny a suicide
verdict.

Taylor classifies suicides as either:

Ectopic (what the person thinks about themselves)
or
Symphysic (suicide as a result of their relationships with others).
Suicide and its attempts are also related to certainty and uncertainty
people are sure or unsure about themselves or others.

He comes up with two types of ectopic suicides:

i) Submissive suicides occur when a person is certain about
themselves and their life its terrible. They see themselves as
already dead. The person is sure they want to die. Common in people
with terminal illness.
ii) Thanatation is a type of suicide which is a gamble, the person isnt
sure about dying or living.

Which of these is submissive & which is

thanatation?

Taylor also identifies two symphysic or other-directed suicides:

i) sacrifice suicides are certain that others have made their life
unbearable and they have no choice but to end it;
ii) appeal suicides are when a person wants to show another that they
are desperate, desperate enough to try to kill themselves if it
doesnt work, thats fine.

Evaluations of Taylor
His theory is based upon his interpretations of the actors meanings and there
is no way on knowing if these are correct as they are no longer here.
He has a small sample of case studies. It isnt representative.
He has not connected his four types of suicide to social structures

Look at the suicide case studies

Do they link to any of Taylor, Aitkins, Douglas or
Durkheim's types or explanations of suicide?