Suicide

1
Suicide

• A sensitive subject which also forms part of the
  deviance section, here the emphasis is on using
  it as an example to illustrate methods in action

2
Durkheim

• Durkheim was concerned with establishing
  sociology as an academic, scientific discipline.
• He used suicide to get this across to the
  academic world.
• He studied official stats in different European
  countries at the end of the 19th century
• He called suicide a social fact which could be
  explained by reference to other social facts

3
Suicide

• He chose to study suicide for a number of reasons
• 1. Personal a close friend had committed
  suicide
• 2. Academic Durkheim was interested in whether
  social facts could influence a persons state of
  mind. He wanted to establish sociology as an
  academic subject.
• 3. Accessibility Durkheim could find stats on
  suicide across Europe and therefore could do a
  comparative study.

4
Durkheim

• Durkheim's approach to suicide was' positvist'.
  He followed the methods of the sciences in
  generating hypotheses and looking for causal
  explanations

5
Durkheim

• Durkheim identified a number of variables which
  affect the rates of suicide.
• Religious affiliation
• Degree of urbanisation
• Age
• Marital status
• Children
• level of education

6
Durkheim

• Durkheim believed that suicide rates depended
  on 2 key factors
• 1. The degree to which an individual was
  integrated into society.
• 2. The degree to which an individual was
  regulated by society.
• Too little or too much of these would predispose
  people to suicide.

7
Suicide

• 1. Altruistic Suicide
• This occurs when there is excessive integration
  within a group. There is a strong sense of
  loyalty.
• E.g. suicide bomber, kamikaze pilots etc.
• The individual gives his/her life for the group

8
Suicide

• 2. Egoistic Suicide
• This is where there is insufficient integration.
• Protestant countries had higher rates than
  Catholic ones.
• Durkheim believed this was because this was a
  more individualised religion
• Modern egs include Kurt Cobain self interested
  pursuit of destruction

9
Suicide

• 3. Anomic Suicide
• Is a feature of societies/individuals undergoing
  rapid change where there is confusion over
  norms and values
• Suicide goes up in times of economic prosperity
  and decline
• E.g. Wall St Crash, Lottery winners

10
Suicide

• 4. Fatalistic Suicide
• Occurs where there is excessive regulation.
• Durkheim only gave this a footnote in his book
  young husbands with futures pitilessly blocked
• Also slaves, concentration camp members
• Modern e.gs Fred West?

11
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• The Samaritans and other organisations today do
  recognise the importance of integration and
  regulation in affecting the suicide rates.
  However, in sociological circles Durkheim's work
  has been criticised.

12
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Positivist Criticisms
• 1. Durkheim was too vague on his concepts of
  integration and regulation
• 2. Agreed with Durkheims approach but criticised
  his lack of rigour with the stats.
• 3. Maybe the stats were affected by the the
  hesitance of reporting such deaths in religious
  countries.

13
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Social Action Criticisms
• 1. Jack Douglas (1967)
• Douglas believed that people who commit suicide
  attach different meanings to the act in the first
  place

14
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Social Action Criticisms
• 1. Jack Douglas (1967)
• 1. Transforming the self
• Suicide victim believes his/her life will change
  for the better. E.g. religious sects

15
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 2. Transforming the self for others.
• Giving ones life for others
• E.g. Captain Oates I may be some time
• Maximillian a priest at Auschwitz

16
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 3. Achieving fellow feeling
• To elicit sympathy often associated with
  attempted suicides

17
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 4. Gaining revenge
• Aiming to get back at others to make them feel
  guilty, ruin their lives etc.

18
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Suicde statistics tell us nothing about why
  people commit suicide

19
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Social Action Criticisms
• 2. . J.M. Atkinson 1978
• Atkinson through ethnomethodological study
  examined how coroners made decisions at inquests
  as to whether a death was a suicide or not

20
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Coroners have to play detective and rely on a
  number of things to help inform their decision
• 1. Suicide notes
• More likely to pass a verdict of suicide when a
  clear note has been left
• 30 of victims leave notes
• Some are destroyed by relatives

21
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 2. Mode of death
• Hanging, overdoses seen as typical
• Drowning, car crashes less so

22
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 3. Location and circumstances
• Certain locations get notoriety for suicides
  e.g. Beachy Head
• Coroners believe the more serious attempts are in
  private
• More public places suggest attempted suicides
  crys for help etc termed parasuicides

23
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• 4. Life History and mental condition
• Experts are often called to judge the persons
  state of mind.
• History of depression, mental illness helps get a
  suicide verdict
• Also recent happenings divorce, financial
  crisis etc

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Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Classification of deaths by the coroner operate
  within this framework. He/she uses a check list
  approach. The more 'typical' characteristics
  found in the above - the more likely the death
  will be classified as suicide.
• Consequently, Atkinson is very critical of
  positivist attempts to develop a causal theory of
  suicide based on stats which he sees as a social
  creation.

25
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• Comparing Danish and English Coroners
• Both sets of coroners were given
• the same case studies
• Danes gave more suicide verdicts
• Less stigma in Denmark etc.
• Therefore the higher rates in Denmark were not
  necessarily higher in real terms
• Suicide verdicts are social constructions

26
Evaluating Durkheim's approach

• For Atkinson and others stats are simply a
  reflection of the common sense assumptions and
  decisions of officials. A 'proper' investigation
  of suicide must involve an examination of the
  work of officials in arriving at definitions of
  what is or is not a suicide.
• This emphasis is very different from the
  structural approaches to sociology and emphasises
  the methodologies of qualitative research -
  in-depth interviews, observation, content
  analysis etc

27
Recent developments in the debate

• Until the 1980's, the debate about suicide was
  polarised between the positivists and the social
  action (interpretive)theorists.
• Hindess (1973) criticised Atkinson and other
  ethnomethodologists in stating that 'their common
  sense' affects how they look at things.
• Recently Steve Taylor has argued that Durkheim
  was aware of the social construction of stats but
  still argued that broad statistical patterns are
  important. To this end Durkheim can be seen as a
  'realist'

28
Recent developments in the debate

• Steve Taylor 1988
• Taylor offers his own categories of suicide which
  combine the approaches of Durkheim and the Social
  Action Theorists.

29
Recent developments in the debate

• Steve Taylor 1988
• Ectopic Suicide
• Inner directed suicides
• Submissive person has decided life is over e.g.
  spouse dies, terminal illness.
• 2. Thanative person is unsure about themselves
  and puts themselves in dangerous situations.

30
Recent developments in the debate

• Steve Taylor 1988
• Symphsic Suicide
• Other directed suicides
• Sacrifice suicide is act of revenge against
  those who have made ones life intolerable.
• 2. Appeal where person is unsure about how
  others feel about them cry for help