Durkheim and Suicide essays

Durkheim and Suicide essays Durkheim uses the concepts of culture and social structure to explain variations in suicide rates between different groups. Sociological investigations seek social-structure models of influences on suicide, including family, culture, religion, occupation, socioeconomic class, and groups or organizations, typically derived from applying ecological and epidemiological methods to investigate relationships of suicide rates to social-demographic factors and secular variations. Durkheim distinguished 3 types of suicide, based essentially on social roles egoistic, altruistic, and anomic (arising from angry frustration). Absent or negative social relationships also can be associated with suicide by involving loss of support or involvement in toxic relationships or cults. Although social isolation and material or emotional deprivation seem to play a fundamental role in suicide, multifactorial biopsychosocial models usually are favored today, and they offer the most comprehensive available theoretical models. Global influences. Massive global changes in the 20th century had little overall effect on international suicide rates, although, paradoxically, shifts in suicide rates have been greater in countries relatively protected from wars and economic disasters, and increases have occurred selectively in countries that had relatively low rates in 1900. For example, in the United States, the annual suicide rate per 100,000 population of 10.2 in 1900 increased to 16.2 early in World War I, decreased in the 1920s, rose to 17.4 during the Depression, and then fell during World War II, to remain stable thereafter at 10-12.[11,67] During World War II, the reported suicide rate in Germany remained stable or even fell slightly, whereas some countries not directly involved in the war (eg, Ireland, Finland) experienced marked increases. For the most part, however, both world wars were associated with decreased suicide rates in winning, losing and ...