Suicide

Suicide

DURKHEIM, POSITIVISM & SUICIDE
1. POSITIVISTS believe society can be studied scientifically. Science develops laws to explain observed patterns. DURKHEIM argued that there are patterns in suicide & their social causes could be discovered.
2. SUICIDE RATES AS SOCIAL FACTS
  1. In DURKHEIM'S view, behaviour is caused by social facts - forces found in the structure of society. Social facts are external to individuals; they constrain individuals, shaping their behaviour, & are greater than individuals - they exist on a different 'level'. For DURKHEIM, the suicide rate is a social fact.
  2. Using official statistics for various European countries, DURKHEIM found that:
    1. Different societies have different rates.
    2. Within a society, rates varied between social groups; e.g. Catholics had lower rates than Protestants.
    3. For DURKHEIM, such patterns show that suicide rates are the result of 2 social facts:
      1. Social integration - how far individuals experience a sense of belonging to a group.
      2. Moral regulation - how far individuals' actions are kept in check by norms.
3. DURKHEIM'S TYPOLOGY OF SUICIDE
  1. This gives 4 types of suicide:
    1. Egotistic suicide (too little integration); e.g. Catholics have a lower rate than Protestants because they are more tightly integrated by shared ritual.
    2. Altruistic suicide (too much integration), where it is the individual's duty to die for the good of the group; e.g. Japanese kamikaze pilots.
    3. Anomic suicide (too little regulation), where society's norms become unclear or outdated by rapid change, e.g. economic booms & slumps.
    4. Fatalistic suicide (too much regulation), where society controls individuals completely, e.g. slaves & prisoners.
  2. Different types of society have different types of suicide:
    1. In modern societies, individualism is more important, causing egoistic suicides, while rapid change produces anomic suicides.
    2. In traditional societies, the group is more important, causing altruistic suicides. Individuals have rigidly ascribed statuses, causing fatalistic suicides.
INTERPRETIVISM & SUICIDE
1. Rather than focus on the causes of suicide as POSITIVISTS do, INTERPRETIVISTS focus on its meanings for those involved - the deceased, coroners, relatives etc.
2. DOUGLAS: INTERACTIONISM & SUICIDE
  1. DOUGLAS takes an INTERACTIONIST approach. He is interested in the meaning of suicide for the deceased, & the way coroners label deaths.
  2. Suicide statistics - DOUGLAS rejects DURKHEIM'S use of statistics.
    1. They are not social facts, as DURKHEIM believes, but social constructs, based on coroners' interpretations of deaths & influenced by other actors, e.g. family members.
  3. Actors' meanings & qualitative data - DURKHEIM ignores the meanings of the act.
    1. We must classify suicides according to their meaning for the deceased.
      1. To do so, DOUGLAS uses qualitative data: suicide notes, diaries, interviews w/ survivors & relatives. He believes this will give us a better idea of the real rate of suicide than official statistics.
3. ATKINSON: ETHNOMETHODOLOGY & SUICIDE
  1. ATKINSON argues that social reality is simply a construct of its members.
  2. ATKINSON agrees w/ DOUGLAS that statistics are merely the result of coroners' interpretations.
  3. Disagrees w/ DURKHEIM that we can find the deceased's meanings & discover the real rate, since neither researchers nor coroners can classify deaths objectively. All we can study is how coroners come to classify a death as a suicide.
  4. ATKINSON uses qualitative methods: court documents, conversations w/ coroners, observations of inquests.
  5. ATKINSON concludes that coroners have a commonsense theory about the typical suicide. They take the following as clues indicating suicidal intent & use them to reach a verdict of suicide: a suicide note or suicide threats; mode of death, e.g. hanging is seen as 'typically suicidal'; location & circumstances, e.g. shooting in a deserted lay-by; life history e.g. mental illness.
4. TAYLOR: REALISM & SUICIDE
  1. TAYLOR agrees w/ INTERPRETIVISTS that coroners' theories influence their verdicts, so statistics are not valid.
  2. Accepts the POSITIVIST view that we can discover the underlying cause of suicide. he uses case studies to discover the meanings that cause suicide.
  3. TAYLOR identifies 4 types of suicide, based on the individual's certainty or uncertainty about themselves or others:
    1. Submissive suicide - involves certainty about oneself.
    2. Sacrifice suicide - involves certainty about others.
    3. Thanatation suicide - involves uncertainty about oneself.
    4. Appeal suicide - involves uncertainty about others.

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