ipl-logo

Emile Durkheim's Theories Of Suicide

1211 Words5 Pages

Suicide written by French sociologist Emile Durkheim in 1897 was a cutting edge piece in the field of sociology. It was a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time that provided an example of what the sociological monograph should look like.
Emile Durkheim was born on April 15, 1858 he was a French sociologist, social psychologist and a philosopher. His works has contributed greatly in establishing sociology as an academic discipline; he is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science along with Karl Marx and Max Weber. The works done along with them had a greater influence on the society on that time and still continue to hold its importance. Durkheim was one of the main advocates of positive methodology. …show more content…

In this book Durkheim defined suicide and the particular way in which people who commit each type of suicide are connected to their society. This book explains theories of social causes of suicide and the different types of suicide. He went against the earlier notions of suicide and came to a new conclusion from his study that suicides are not individual acts but are socially influenced. Accordingly, his theory was that suicide was a social fact which was regular and predictable that was tied to social structures. He defined suicide as a social fact because it was something that happened driven by social causes or other social facts, however hidden they …show more content…

Because when he considered all suicides committed in a particular society during a specific time period as a whole, the total is not simply a sum of independent units, but constitutes in itself a new fact sui generis, which has its own unity and individuality, and therefore, its own pre-eminently social nature. Durkheim wants to find the social causes of suicide (not personal or psychological) and therefore looks at the social environments (religious beliefs, family, political society, occupations, etc.)In his study.
EXTRA SOCIAL CAUSES
Durkheim also pointed out the two kinds of extra-social causes which has an influence on suicide rate. First, within the individual psychological constitution there might exist an inclination, normal or pathological, varying from country to country, which directly leads people to commit suicide. Second, the nature of the external physical environment (climate, temperature, etc.) might indirectly have the same effect. Durkheim took up each in

Show More
Related
607 Words | 3 Pages

Suicide in this society is connected as no person shows much concern for anyone who commits suicide as they have machines to filter blood and pump their stomachs to “bring them back from the dead” or resuscitate them from death. Therefore, giving further proof of lack of human connection as they showed a lack of concern as well. Though, some people showed signs of concerns. Concluding my argument, the themes of lack of human connection and censorship were the main themes of the book. Though, some could argue that it also included the dual nature of humankind.

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

Emile Durkheim was a french sociologist that was mainly known for his views on the structure of society. More specifically on how traditional and modern societies evolved and functioned. On the contrary to Durkheim, the film Baraka shows the inconsistency between traditional and modern societies. Baraka focuses on the illogical progress from traditional to modern societies. In this sense, even though there is great distinction between Durkheim and the film Baraka, there is also great comparison.

Read More
1146 Words | 5 Pages

In his book, Suicide, Emile Durkheim explores the social reasons that would someone to commit suicide. The basis of his argument laid in his ideas of social integration and social regulation. Social regulation is the many facets in which a person can be involved with society, such as political groups, religious groups, and domestic groups. Social regulation in comparison are the social and moral rules that a society decides what is right and what is wrong. Durkheim believes that people need to find a balance within social integration and social regulation to live a healthy lifestyle.

Read More
1624 Words | 7 Pages

The Creation of Society Through the Lens of Durkheim and Rousseau There are various theories across the spectrum of the social sciences that address the birth of society. The focus of this essay will be on two French sociologists, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Émile Durkheim who share different ideas of how the creation of society came about. Durkheim was a functionalist who has very fundamental views on the formation of society. Durkheim theorizes that society is natural and happens through shared experiences. He believes that society makes the individual “whole” by providing them with knowledge.

Read More
992 Words | 4 Pages

Durkheim believed that society was made of individuals, but in order to study society we must look beyond the individual to the social facts. Social facts act external to the individual and impose themselves upon the individual, according to Emile Durkheim. If the rules of social facts are violated then there can be punishment or social ridicule. These are things that keep individuals from acting out of the norm from society. Things such as schools, religion, and government keep people from acting out of the norms and morals of society.

Read More
1145 Words | 5 Pages

The concept has been widely used by sociologists since. Anome is a French word which means normlessness or a state without rules or regulations. One of Durkheim 's most famous studies was concerned with the analysis of suicide. Durkheim showed that social factors employ a fundamental influence on suicidal behaviour. Durkheim defined suicide as "every case of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act performed by the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result" (Aragwal, 2012).

Read More
3047 Words | 13 Pages

Durkheim in many ways incorporated, both egoism (detachment from structural relations in groups) and anomic (deregulation by symbols) into the true definition of anomie. Durkheim took the initiative to clarify the vagueness of the fact that deregulation of individual’s desires and passions resulted narrowly into suicide. The nature of the deficiency or disjuncture between society and individual differs, although anomic and egoistic suicide both, ‘are generated from the insufficient presence in the individuals of the society’. Anomic suicide basically is created when individuals are not regulated by the society sufficiently. As we move further into the category, we understand that rapid social change disrupts norms and values leading to uncertainty for behaviour becoming increasingly unclear.

Read More
1222 Words | 5 Pages

According to Emile Durkheim, there are four different types of suicide. These include: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic suicide. Durkheim’s main focus on studying suicide is understanding what makes a person commit suicide and the influences and factors that lead that person to carry out the act (Open College). Egoistic suicide is when an individual has low social interactions with others, they have feelings

Read More
2398 Words | 10 Pages

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF EMILE DURKHEIM’S THEORY OF SUICIDE Emile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 -15 November, 1917) was a French sociologist and is mostly famous for his monograph the theory of Suicide (1897). He is also a French sociologist, social psychologist and a philosopher and has formally established the academic discipline and is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology. His most important work was apparently a case study of suicide which is a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Protestant populations, founded modern social research and served to distinguish social science from psychology and political philosophy. If we have a look at the suicide statistics it is known that precisely, 11.1 out of every 100,000 people have died by suicide (WHO 2011).

Read More
1740 Words | 7 Pages

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Max Weber (1864-1920) are widely considered as two of the “founding fathers” of sociology. They are important for their contribution to understanding society. A great deal of their contributions have had a lasting impact into how sociological studies are conducted. The difference between these two sociologist is their theoretical perspectives. Unlike Weber who belonged to the interpretive perspective, Durkheim belonged to the functionalist perspective.

Read More
837 Words | 4 Pages

Durkheim, thus wishes to be more scientific in his approach and wants to observe moral facts that are constantly changing to formulate sociological theories as opposed to just accepting a set of “ideal type” morals that were formed at a specific

Read More
1939 Words | 8 Pages

Durkheim describes suicide as an action that a person takes with the awareness that it will lead to their death. He looked at various types of suicide including egoistic suicide and altruistic suicide that come from integration but he put much of his focus onto anomic suicide that comes from regulation. In preventing suicide we can note that fewer suicides occur during wars as this brings people together and gives the society a collective mentality once more. In preventing anomic suicide the society would need to become more of a collective. Thus separation between the group and the individual continues.

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

Compared to countries outside Hong Kong, China, America, Singapore, Japan and Korean also find out the suicidal rate of elderly were also higher than any other people in different age group. Although sociologisit Emile Durkheim thinks that the suicide rates for a society typically shows a stable distribiution from year to year, there are always identification of periodic fluctuations and patterns of suicide

Read More
1169 Words | 5 Pages

Over the years the issue of suicide has been slowly increasing. It is now the third leading cause of death among young people. The effects of suicide are tragic and felt long after the individual has taken their own life. Some people who consider suicide, however, never make a “serious” attempt at it. For every attempted suicide, there is said to be more than one person whose thought of suicide has never translated into an actual attempt.

Read More
1612 Words | 7 Pages

Thus, this paper, with the purpose of helping troubled teens will discuss the reasons behind a teen’s suicide, warning signs and how

Read More

More about Emile Durkheim's Theories Of Suicide

Related Topics

Open Document