A2-Level Sociology

Suicide

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

Last Lesson Recap

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?

Dictionary Definition

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's

own death

What probs exist with using this definition

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?

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

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

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”

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 behaviour3. Greater than individuals- exist on a different

level

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.

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

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 beenmore 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 effectRelationships

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

Durkheim’s Categorisation of Suicide

Social Integration

Moral Regulation

BALANCE

Type of Suicide

Lack of Integration

Over-Integration

Lack of Regulation

Over-Regulation

Egoistic

Altruistic

Anomic

Fatalistic

Read the definitions for each of these types of suicide and summarise

Read through Suicide and types of Society (pg 148)

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.

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

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

Summarise Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide