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Problems with teen suicide
Sociological explanation of suicide
Problems with teen suicide
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Mills ask the sociologist to examine how social structures and culture are linked to the personal problem, in this case teen suicide. He also ask that we look at how these develop historically and how they are changing in today’s society.
Gaines covers these points. She talks about the history of teen suicide from the 50’s to the 80’s and the stigma attached to it that may have skewed the statistics because people did not report it as a suicide. Gaines also explains how the parents and society today respond to teens because of the suicide pact.
However, I do not think this essay gets to the root of the cause of teen suicide. Mills would have asked to extend the lens and look further into the imagination for the root cause and solution.
Gaines
Durkheim, Emile. Trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson. Suicide; A Study in Sociology. The Free Press, New York. 1987. Pgs. 297-325
The main argument in this article is that there needs to be more ways to help people that are suicidal. The main point of this article is that they want to people to be more aware of how to help someone, and it is also full of information. The topics that are covered in the article are the issues at hand, the background with suicide in teens, and the next step that society needs to take. This article is about helping people that are suicidal and how to help them and let us know the next step that we need to take.
Many teens are dealing with “mental and physical health problems” (Grisham, 2277). These teens do not have access to proper medications. A sucide attempt can “signal high levels of hopelessness”(2277). Adolescents often shield themselves away from family and friends. Individuals who attempt suicide may indicate psychological factors. According to David Maimon he acknowledges that Emile Durkheim soley focuses on theory and research on micro level social forces, social interrogation and moral regulation. He rejects the studies done based on individual
Her eyes were heavy, her body weak. As she crawled into the bathroom two feet away, Abby felt her body slowly succumbing to the numbness. All of her pain would be gone in less than 10 minutes, so why would she want to turn back? What about the senior trip Abby had planned with her best friend? What about the chair at the dinner table that would now be vacant? A couple of hours later Abby’s family came home from her little sister’s soccer game. Little did they know what they would find as they approached the top of the stairs. Her little sister, Ali, stood still as she looked down at her feet. There on the cold floor lay her big sister, her role model, and her super hero. Ali was crushed when she saw the pill bottle in her hand and the pale color of her skin. Her mom fell to her knees screaming and crying, wondering where she
Joseph Connelly Gazzola used to be a Northeastern University football star. He has since taken his own life, and it has hit everyone he knew very hard.
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
Chandler, Michael. "Self & Cultural Continuity as a hedge against youth suicide." university of british columbia, 7 february (2012).presentation.
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.
Structural-functional views show the importance of being connected to friends and family to remain mentally happy and healthy. Symbolic-interaction shows us that we need to be proactive when it comes to youth and bullying and make sure that there is absolutely no tolerance for this behavior, because youth take to heart and internalize what others think about them. The social conflict perspective educates us on the importance that teens place on money and power and places socioeconomic youth at risk for many behaviors that can be linked to suicide and depression. Looking at teen depression and suicide through different sociological perspective provides an awareness and gives us valuable information that should be shared to make a difference in teen depression and suicide
Teen suicide can result from a number of scenarios. When you hear of teens who commit suicide, a lot of people would think it's due to the most common cases which are unhappiness or depression. But in fact, there are different factors to what causes suicide. For an example, as stated in the article Teen Suicide from Kids Health, teens attempt suicide for multiple reasons. These reasons revolve around psychological problems such as anxiety, bipolar disorders, or drug abuse or even dealing with bisexuality or homosexuality in an unsupportive family or hostile school environment. The individuals who usually face th...
A Study of Suicide: An overview of the famous work by Emile Durkheim, Ashley Crossman, 2009, http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/Suicide.htm, 25/12/2013
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. (J. A. Spaulding, & G. Simpson, Trans.)
Olson, Jeremy. "Teen Suicide Is Not on the Rise." Mental Illness. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "No Surge in Teen Suicides, but Many Myths." StarTribune.com. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Now the eighth-leading cause of death overall in the U.S. and the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, suicide has become the subject of much recent focus. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, for instance, recently announced his Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999, an initiative intended to increase public awareness, promote intervention strategies, and enhance research. The media, too, has been paying very close attention to the subject of suicide, writing articles and books and running news stories. Suicide among our nation’s youth, a population very vulnerable to self-destructive emotions, has perhaps received the most discussion of late. Maybe this is because teenage suicide seems the most tragic—lives lost before they’ve even started. Yet, while all of this recent focus is good, it’s only the beginning. We cannot continue to lose so many lives unnecessarily.
It is hard to precisely determine the cause of an adolescent suicide. But through notes that are left by the victim and the turn of events that have seemed to have taken place in the young person's world, common causes can be found.