Introduction
Durkheim’s theoretical typology of suicide introduces the notion that social factors greatly influence suicide . He expands on this theory by dividing suicide into types firstly anome then altruistic, egoistic and lastly fatalistic. Durkheim touched on how religion impacted suicide rates and the difference in rates amongst different beliefs. It can be argued that this study remains largely relevant to the factors that contribute to such deaths today and thus greatly contributed to the understanding of this contemporary topic. This classic body of work though considered ground-breaking has an abundance of controversy and criticism surrounding it, despite this it remains a highly regarded source in the history of sociology.
Altruistic
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This is apparent in his different types of suicide. Altruistic is described as when an individual is excessively integrated into society to the point that they believe in taking their own lives for the good of the group in some cases . When these theories came out Durkheim was most likely referring to widows, warriors and servants who took their life on the death of the patriarch. What this type carries a familiarity to in this day and age would be kamikaze pilots who die for a political belief and also suicide bombers who often are fuelled by a religious perspective. The individual is often brought up or surrounded by one viewpoint and is led to believe that this action would benefit their society.
Egoistic
Another form of suicide according to Durkheim is Egoistic this refers to the isolated individual who is detached from society . People are linked to society through family friends and employment. The individuals who can fall victim to this category include recently retired people or a person who has lost family or friends. In the past when Durkheim wrote this he would have been talking about single people, city dwellers and according to him Protestants more than Jews.
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The individual in this current generation that would be correctly linked to this group are prisoners in jail. Very topical among the past few years are the wrongful convictions, mistreatment and corruption in prisons. The story of kalief Browder enveloped the globe in sadness to realise that the law system that is payed to protect and serve stole the childhood from a sixteen year old boy, imprisoning him without trail for a crime he had not committed despite his many suicide attempts whilst in solitary confinement in prison he did not take his life till he was finally acquitted of all charges and returned home. Prof that the current system in place are damaging and not
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.
Durkheim, Emile. Trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson. Suicide; A Study in Sociology. The Free Press, New York. 1987. Pgs. 297-325
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...
In a study released by Brown University, their psychology department shed some light on common myths and facts surrounded suicide. These m...
In 1897, Emile Durkheim (1997) showed that the suicide – perhaps the most personal of all decisions – could be analysed through the conceptual lenses of sociology.
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.
This paper is a critical review of the French sociologist Emil Durkheim and his writings on suicide from his book titled ‘Suicide’ written in 1897. Durkheim was seen as a positivist and functionalist. In his book, Durkheim’s goal was to study people’s tendencies towards suicide and to determine the social causes behind them. Suicide, which Durkheim defined as ‘all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result’ (Durkheim, 1987).
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 was a functionalist, and theorised that a holistic social narrative could be identified which would explain individual behaviour. He argued that, whilst society was made up of its members, it was greater than the sum of its parts, and was an external pressure that determined the behaviour of the individuals within it. At that time, suicide rates in Europe were rising, and so the causes of suicide were on the agenda. Since suicide is seen as an intrinsically personal and individual action, establishing it as having societal causes would be a strong defence for Durkheim’s functionalist perspective. Durkheim used the comparative method to study the official suicide rates of various European countries. While he was not the first to notice the patterns and proportional changes of suicide rates between different groups in European societies, it was this fact that was the foundation of his theory – why did some groups consistently have much higher rates than others? This supports the idea that it was the external pressures placed on certain groups within society that induced higher rates of suicide, and is the basis of Durkheim’s work.
Sociological Imagination is being aware of relationships between personal experience and the wider society. Sociology takes a unique, astounding, and enlightening viewpoint on social events. Suicide is known as a supremely antisocial individual act. When people think about individuals committing suicide their more likely to look at their individual state of mind rather than the state society has on them. French sociologist Emilie Durkheim showed that suicide is more than just an individual act, suffering from psychological disorder but are also influenced by social forces. Durkheim believed people with a high degree of agreement are more likely to not be suicidal compared to those who had a low degree of solidarity. To support this argument Durkheim expressed that married couples are likely to live a happy life with no suicidal feelings rather than those who were unmarried as marriage creates social ties and moral cement which bind the individuals to society. We do not only live in society but society also lives in us. For example Social relations affect us all in many different ways. It plays with our
The concept of suicide has always been the controversial debate topic among the philosophers. Since the birth of Christianity in Western world, committing a suicide is generally accepted as the act of immorality and the transgression of our duty toward God. By mid-16th century, David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, questions this traditional duty-based ethic of suicide. As he
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. (J. A. Spaulding, & G. Simpson, Trans.)
Emile Durkheim, is the founder of sociology who conceived many theories, in the concept of suicide and its relationship with society. Durkheim’s book “Suicide” makes a distinction between suicide and suicide rate in relation with society. Durkheim conducted his research in a longitudinal study from various countries. He studied the suicide number and compared the mortality rate of different regions. His case study of suicide, explored the differences of suicide rates between social, economic and religious groups. He found people felt intertwine of social surrounding of social factors that produce suicide and, different social classes emerged from the discovery.
Although sociologists like J.D. Douglas would question the reliability of the statistics, due to the coroners decision being final, most sociologists would agree that Durkheim's study into suicide was successful, and indeed many have tried to develop and improve on his theory. Overall, this essay has shown that one type of methodology may not always be suitable for the particular research carried out. Both Interpretative sociology and the Positivist approach equally show that they are valid methods for carrying out research, but like everything, nothing is one hundred percent accurate. Therefore, there is always room for flaw, but in the study of Sociology, there is always room for more ways of obtaining and interpreting data.
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.