Emile Durkheim 18581917

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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• The Study of Suicide (1897)

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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• Along with the German Max Weber, one of the most
  notable sociologists of the early 20th century
• French
• In some ways, fulfilled Comtes dream of a
  scientific sociology

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Durkheim contd.

• He was the last of the Social Darwinists and the
  first of the functionalists
• Centered many of his beliefs around the notion of
  function

• FUNCTIONALISM
• All elements of society have positive functions
  and contribute to the maintenance of the social
  structure
• Society is a relatively stable structure of
  elements

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Durkheim contd.

• Durkheim is considered the first social
  researcher
• He wrote The Rules of the Sociological Method
  (1895), the first research methods textbook

• He conducted the first sociological study his
  classic study of Suicide (1897)
• He developed the term ANOMIE, defined as a
  condition of normlessness or absence of norms
  (and thus, stability)

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The Study of Suicide (1897)

• Durkheim chose to study suicide for several
  reasons
• 1. He wanted to demonstrate the usefulness of
  sociology in understanding human behavior
• 2. Little was known about the subject and he was
  interested in the topic
• 3. Data was readily available (death records,
  etc.) making the study fairly easy to conduct

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Durkheims Variables

• Based on what was available, Durkheim centered
  his study on several variables and how they
  influenced the suicide rate
• A. Gender male/female
• B. Religion Catholics/Protestants
• C. Military Status military personnel /civilians
• D. Economy good/poor
• E. National Status wartime/peacetime

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A Brief Discussion of Variables

• There are generally two types of variables
• Independent Variables (the cause) and Dependent
  Variables (the effect)
• independent variables cause a change in the
  rate of the dependent variable
• If A affects B, A is the I.V., B is the D.V.
• In Durkheims study, the suicide rate is always
  the dependent variable. Ex The suicide rate
  for males will be different than if one is
  female. The I.V. Gender has thus affected the
  suicide rate (D.V.)

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Four Basic Research Methods

• There are four basic methods of research in
  sociology
• 1. Survey research
• --questionnaires/interviews
• 2. Analysis of Existing Sources (document
  studies)
• 3. Observational Studies
• 4. Experimentation
• Durkheim had to choose this method why?

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Findings in Suicide

• Who had a higher rate of suicide,
• A. Men or Women?
• B. Catholics or Protestants?
• C. Military personnel or Civilians?
• D. People living in a good or poor economy?
• E. People in wartime or peacetime?

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ANSWERS

• Men more violent, more isolated than women
  physically and emotionally
• Protestants more detached in faith personal
  relationship with God vs. rigid Catholic church
  hierarchy
• Military Personnel more violent, more
  sacrificial to the needs of others to the point
  of giving ones life
• Poor economic times money issues cause need to
  escape problems
• Peacetime social unity occurs in wartime not
  detachment people are more individualistic in
  peacetime and thus more detached

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Conclusions

• Durkheim concluded that there were four distinct
  types of suicide
• 1. Egoistic due to emotional detachment (loners,
  friendless people, isolated individuals)
• 2. Anomic due to normlessness (no apparent
  escape, no way to change situations)
• 3. Altruistic due to a higher cause or purpose
  (terrorism, kamikaze pilots, Gods call, etc.)
• 4. Fatalistic due to a lack of hope (terminally
  ill people, etc.)

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Final Thoughts/Critique

• Be able to name examples of each type
• CRITIQUE of the study
• Types are not mutually exclusive a suicide may
  be the result of several types in combination
• Hard to determine the type associated with an
  actual suicide
• Take an elderly man who has just lost his
  wifeand takes his own life. His suicide may
  occur for any of the above reasons or some
  combination of them see if you can figure out
  the possibilities
• For the first study in sociology, it is a
  masterpiece!

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For more info, see article at http//www.relst.ui
uc.edu/durkheim/Summaries/suicide.html