Introduction: What is the problem?
Recently, news about suicide cases on telephone and newspaper appeared frequently. 22 cases were reported since the first academic year last September 2015. The number of cases reached the annual average cases in last five years. (Lau, 2016) Suicides are a tragedy and global issue that are preventable (WHO, 2014). Indeed, the suicide situation and seriousness among the elderly and youth in Hong Kong were worrying. This paper is to discuss if suicide of elderly is a social problem and how it was defined and analysed with classical sociological theory. Then the elderly suicide problem in recent Hong Kong society will be discussed. Its policies and welfare services will be mentioned and assessed to tackle this
…show more content…
Suicide is a problem because, per above mentioned, it happens no matter in a primitive, an industrialized, or a modern society of science and technology. It is certain that suicide appears consistently. Besides the huge numbers of suicide cases annually and globally, there are many suicide attempts for each death and unreported cases in some countries. The negative influence is not only on individuals, but on their families, friends, and community (school/work, religious network). The impact is also devastating and far-reaching to the society. Therefore, suicide is not only an individual problem. What is it?
Suicide is a social problem. Sociologists consider a social problem is an alleged situation that is incompatible with the values of a significant number of people who agree that action is needed to alter the situation. (Loseke, 2011) Suicide is the second leading cause of death among the youth aged 15-29. (WHO, 2014) Youth are the future of generation and work population. The human value and cost of a human life are then should be questioned in the social norm. Besides, a significant number of people, includes governments, international and national non-government organizations, religious groups and education institutes emphasises that actions have to be taken to prevent suicide problem. Therefore suicide problem (of different age groups, races and gender) is also a social problem that
…show more content…
Firstly, elderly suicide is a social problem because 34.9% (351 out of 1007 cases) were over 60 years old in 2014. According to Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, for the elderly over 65 years old, although the suicide rate of elderly suicide has declined from over 35 during Year 1985-1995 (in every 100 thousand) persons to 22.8 (in every 100 thousand) in the year 2013, the rate was still the highest among other age groups in Hong Kong. (The Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, 2015)
The suicidual attempts and action were incompatible with the values of a healthy and modern society as a developed city. 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
Feiler debunks the myth that youth suicide is more common that adult suicide. However he defines suicide in Japan as a “long and honorable tradition” Feiler wants change in Japanese schools to decrease their “high level of stress in the form of pressure to conform and comply with the rules” –SOURCE DISCUSSION- - Legacy of “Americanization” still holds true in today’s Japanese society as present in Feiler’s experience. One can argue there is a heavy American cultural influence in Japan.
Being on either ends of the spectrum for integration or regulation can lead someone to commit suicide. What Durkheim did not do in Suicide was compare rates of suicide between racial groups. African-Americans have a consistently lower suicide rate compared to Caucasians in the United States. However, African-American males from the ages of 20 to 29 have suicide rates much closer to those of their Caucasian counterparts. Using Durkheim’s arguments in Suicide as reference, it can be argued that African-Americans as a racial group have lower suicide rates than their Caucasian counterparts because African-Americans have more sources of social integration and regulation than Caucasians.
Keiski acknowledges that, “Individual therapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist is probably the most common form of treatment for people suffering from any sort of depression or need help through a crisis.” (95). In most cases, suicide is a result of how lonely the victim may feel since they may not fully receive the love and care they deserve. Hence, it is important that professional caretakers reach out to them since they may feel too embarrassed of their negative thoughts. Directly connecting to this idea, most times family members and friends are not too sure about how to address this with the victim since they do not really know how to help.
Lack of communication increases suicide rates because People aren't truly happy with themselves nor the world. People have no idea of their history Or even the world history. The Government could be the cause of this. While outlawing books And brainwashing almost everyone Making them think that their television sets and their seashells are all the have in life.
As of 2015, 5 in 100,000 girls and 14 in 100,000 teenagers commit suicide (Lewis). Teenagers are becoming more vulnerable and schools seem to be taking no notice. If these lives could be saved, it would help so many families across the united states. The National Institute of Mental Health states that there “are as many as 25 attempts of suicide to every one that is actually committed” (Eco Child’s Play). Suicides can be prevented by treatment of the illness.
Suicide. The action of killings oneself intentionally. A word synonymous with despair and tragedy, this act may be taken due to several reasons but if focused on a particular demographic, such as college students, the reasons may be clearer. It is widely accepted that causes of suicides are largely (if not completely) mentally related. With high amounts of stress and pressure coupled with ever amounting expectations on still developing minds, it does not seem difficult to correlate why the rates of suicide among college students is steadily increasing.
The issue of suicide has been around for quite a long time since the Middle Ages. Suicide still continues, which hasn’t disappeared, in fact, it has increased over time because due to lack of effort of attending therapy and seeking the help they need to solve
Holly Kinsella 13528163 Q.2 Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim developed very different sociological theories of how society evolves over time. Marx brought around the conflict theory and became the head of the sociological discipline of Marxism. Durkheim was a French Functionalist, meaning he looked at society in a scientific way. Although Marx and Durkheim had different ways of thinking about society, both have contributed significantly to the way we study sociology today. Karl Marx was a German philosopher who became the head of the sociological discipline of Marxism.
There are 175 countries in the world right now (Countries). The United States is ranked 48th in suicides. An alarming total of 44,193 people commits suicide here, each year (List). It’s daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, friends, and coworkers taking their life. It’s everyday people taking their life.
Emile Durkheim’s theories on social solidarity have been leading the debate on the effects of a shift between two types of solidarity for decades. Solidarity can be seen as the bonding force that hold our societies together. One type of solidarity is mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is a society that functions as a collective, like a machine, with the same goals, dreams and fears that are driven by the ideals of a god or religious figure. In the modern world we have transitioned into organic solidarity.
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).
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.
Suicide and Self-harm is one of the main leading causes in youth deaths in today 's society. The thought of ending his or her life is one of the thoughts developing in teenagers’ minds around the globe. There are many reasons to why a person will put their life at risk, such as stress, depression, loss of a loved one, or being bullied. Constant use of drugs or alcohol is also another leading cause to a person to have suicidal thoughts/actions. Suicide is not the way to go, there are plenty of other options to overcome suicidal thoughts or actions.
Suicide is a dominant cause of death among teenagers and young adults. The rate of suicides and suicide attempts increases from time to time. For some, suicide is the permanent solution to a temporary problem and most pressing public health issues across the world. Suicides case is so often these days even becoming a trend and we are not even flinch anymore. The depression and substances abuse for teenagers currently become issues that lead to suicide cases among teenagers.
The statistics about teenage runaways, alcoholism, drug problems, pregnancy, eating disorders, and suicide are startling. Every year, thousands of people succeed in taking their lives and even more have attempted suicide at some point in their lives. Although we have reached the stage that hearing about suicide is now common, it is was viewed as trivial and petty back then. It seems like a reverse spectrum