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Explain suicide using the framework of Emile Durkheim
Suicide concept by Durkheim
Suicide issues in our society
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Reading Response: Emile Durkheim
Question3:
There are four types of suicide: the first is Altruistic- which is when there is too much integration, which in turn, leads to an individual’s loss of identity as an individual. Instead, he or she is acknowledged through what group he or she is a part of as a collective. This then leads one to commit suicide, because of their willingness to sacrifice oneself for the collective, since they have no individualism.
The second is Egoistic, which has the opposite problem; there is not enough integration. This leads an individual to feel isolated from society. The individual is unable to connect to the collective leading them to believe their life is not valuable nor will they be missed. A great example would be suicide among the elderly. Once, an elderly person no longer feels connected to the people or the world around them, they often
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As Durkheim puts it “we may offer society everything social in us, and still unable to control our desires; one may live in an anomic state without being egoistic and vice versa” (Durkheim 111). From previous readings it is clear Durkheim’s views, were centered within the economic sector, which in his opinion is where the most visible social sphere in which anomic imbalances could be found. He witnessed and examined the correlation between economic changes and levels of suicide, he was able to show how disruptions or changes in the economy push one to commit suicide. The disequilibrium brought on by rapid societal changes caused people to commit suicide more frequently. Aside from economic changes, as society continues for modernization, there is also a change in the family structure, another potential source of anomie. Divorce brought about a state of disequilibrium, because it interrupted the regulative functions of marriage, the regulation of
Durkheim’s concept of social integration refers to social groups with well-defined values, traditions, norms, and goals. These groups will differ in the degree to which individuals are part of the collective body, also to the extent to which the group is emphasized over the individual, and lastly the level to which the group is unified versus fragmented. Durkheim believed that two types of suicide, Egoistic and Altruistic, could stem from social integration. Egoistic suicide resulted from too little social integration. Those people who were not sufficiently bound to a social group would be left with little or no social support in times of crisis. This caused them to commit suicide more often. An example Durkheim discovered was that of unmarried people, especially males, who, with less to connect them to stable social groups, committed suicide at higher rates than married people. Altruistic suicide is a result of too much integration. It occurs at the opposite end of the social integration scale as egoistic suicide. Self sacrifice appears to be the driving force, where people are so involved with a social group that they lose sight of themselves and become more willing to take one for the team, even if this causes them to die. The most common cases of altruistic suicide occur to soldiers during times of war. Religious cults have also been a major source of altruistic suicide.
Emile Durkheim is a French sociologist who investigated suicide and the connection to society using the functionalist perspective. He talks about solidarity being a component of suicide. The less people that an individual has a connection to the more likely they are to consider taking their own life. Belonging to a social group can increase the sense of belonging that people have in their everyday life. Social stratification is a factor of whether someone feels like they belong in a group or not.
According to Durkheim, two types of suicide arise from the different levels social integration. One cause of suicide is extremely low social integration, which is referred to as egoistic suicide. Durkheim argues that this is the case because others give the individual’s life meaning, so without this support from the group the person may feel hopeless (Conley 188). The other type of suicide, altruistic suicide, reflects the opposite situation: when an individual is too socially integrated (Conley 189). This type of suicide occurs when members of a group or community become so totally engrossed by the group tha...
One constant between all cultures is the understanding that all lives will come to an end. Throughout one’s lifetime, virtue, character, and morality are sought, through different ideals and methods, with the overall endgame being the most ethical and desirable outcome possible. There are times, however, when an individual may feel like there is no hope of reaching a successful existence; therefore the act of suicide becomes a viable option. The decision to voluntarily take one’s life has always been a topic of discussion on ethical grounds. Whether or not the decision to die is an ethical one can be argued depending on from which ethical theory the act is being evaluated.
The first type of suicide that can be correlated with abortion is egoistic. Durkheim labels egoism as the low end of the integration scale (Coser), for instance unmarried people. Egoistic or individualistic suicide transpires when conscience is weak, few common principles and sentiments are present, interaction is limited, detached from society, and commitment is to self-interests rather than to those of the collectivity (Coser). For example, an 18 year old is in her first trimester of pregnancy, the father has alienated himself from the equation, her peer group are continuing on with life without her and in her cognizance the only choice is to terminate the pregnancy and her standard way of living will again become normal. For some that may be of certainty, but for others not so.
When Durkheim conducted his research on suicide he did it with the intention of establishing Sociology as a science and as a result almost validate the worth and power of sociology. Before Durkheim’s study, suicide was considered only as the act of an individual however Durkheim’s theory was that suicide tied in with social structures and even though he believed that suicide is ‘the most personal act anyone can undertake’ (Durkheim, 1897), he also believed it was accredited to social causes.
Suicide). Suicidal behaviors occur as a response to a situation that the person views as
Psychologist Lisa Firestone had come to a conclusion that the main driving factor behind suicide and suicide attempts was an inner voice which disconnected the individual from the real world and from selflessness. The voice centers around the ego and weakens the conscience of the individual, leading them to believe they are unworthy of living and undeserving of human love. She believes that human beings who have suicidal attempts do not do it out of their own accor...
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. (J. A. Spaulding, & G. Simpson, Trans.)
One being the collective conscience which is common to our group in its entirety, the other that Durkheim labels “Anomie” which represents us as personal and distinct, and makes us an individual. This roughly translates to alienation but doesn’t fully convey the suddenness or oddness of the situation a person may find themselves in. The term would soon become an explanation for one of three basic types of suicide that Durkheim generalizes in his main study on suicide. In the hypothesis, he explored current explanations for suicide as he felt the differences in rates suggested that more individual factors were operating and that the basic causes of suicide were social in nature. After comparing the rates of urban and rural areas, different religious groups, and so on, to test his hypothesis, he found that the data seemed to fit a pattern which confirmed his hypothesis. From his evidence, Durkheim concluded that the suicide seemed to result from both high and low levels of social attachment, and this determined the suicide
Durkheim used the term anomie to refer to a luck of moral regulations and further said a condition of relative normlessness in a whole society or in one of its component groups. When these social regulations break down the controlling influence on individual desires and interests is ineffective; individuals are left to their own devices that is when one is not being control by any rules and does not follow the regulations of life, deviance and stress are the result. Durkheim identifies two major causes of anomie: the division of labor, and rapid social change. Both of these are associated with modernity. Theoretically, the focus tends to be on rapid change experienced by individuals either up or down the social structure.
... the evidence changed in his later works). He has been widely criticised for his use of official statistics, which are open to interpretation and subject to possibly systematic misreporting, and therefore may not represent the true pattern or rates of suicide. It is also argued that he was confused between the distinction between egoism and anomie, and that he failed to substantiate his claims of the existence of altruism and fatalism; this is argued to such an extent that it has even been suggested that there is only one cause of suicide (egoism) that Durkheim could claim to be true. However, whilst acknowledging some of Durkheim’s own contradictions or confusions, some sociologists have gone on to develop and substantiate the ideas that he developed, and there is no denying that his study of suicide is a far-reaching and legacy-building work of substantial value.
Dokoupil, Tony. A. The "Suicide Epidemic" Newsweek Global 161.19 (2013): 1 Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web.
Fatalistic suicide is the total opposite of altruistic suicide. Fatalistic suicide takes place when there is excessive regulation. Durkheim takes into account, the likelihood that "persons with futures pitilessly blocked and passions violently choked by oppressive discipline" may not see any way out. The person sees no potential way in which their lives can be better, and when in a condition of depression, may have a propensity for committing fatalistic suicide.
Suicide has become a critical, national problem and the extent of this is mind-boggling. Suicides have been proven to be one of the leading causes of death among college students. According to Webters dictionary “suicide is the act killing oneself on purpose”. It derived from the Latin sui, meaning “self”, and caedere, which means “to kill”. But this is just a definition, because an actual suicide holds different meanings to people such as tragic, shocking, a relief, a cry for help, a shame, heroic, the right choice, punishment, revenge, protest, anger, a mistake, desperate, hurtful and many more. But why do people, like college students who have their entire future ahead of them, simply give up hope and turn their heads away from life and commit suicide. There are several causes of suicide, recent incidents of suicide on college campuses, warning signs from a suicidal. I blame the Constitution and the United States law for not taking any hard initiative on the subject of suicide. I also impose the choice of the media, which is reflecting and portraying suicide towards a wrong direction. However most important questions remain: can the growing epidemic of suicide be solved, what are communities doing about it and what can they do to help?