Durkheim Suicide And Suicide

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

Suicide is a complicated topic because there are so many views on why people do it. Denys de Catanzaro’s theory is one that most people may not believe

Emile Durkheim was one of the most influential people to write about suicide and its causes. Suicide had previously been thought to be a moral and psychological problem whereas Durkheim related suicide to sociological problems in modern society. He believed and worked to prove that suicide was not related to individualism but linked to the effects of the external influences of modern society. External social influences upon an individual covered the broad and varied aspects such as culture, religion and family. Durkheim believed that suicide was directly related to the level of social integration and/or regulation of a person in society. He developed groups into which an individual was categorised according to their level of integration

Throughout this essay, we will be looking a Durkheim’s analysis of suicide and whether his ideas on suicide were right in his time, and whether they are still relevant in today’s society. Emile Durkheim described ‘suicide’ as a term “applied to any death which is the direct or indirect result of a positive or negative act accomplished by the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result” (Durkheim, Suicide: a Study in Sociology, originally published 1897, 1970). Positive acts were acts that were undertaking with the intention to produce death. Negative acts were actually the distinct lack of survival acts undertaken, with the knowledge that without these acts, death would be the result. As far as Durkheim was concerned, although suicide itself is a very individual act, the reasoning behind suicide was due to predominantly social factors (Durkheim 1970, p44). Suicide was sociological, not psychological. His research was based not on the personality traits of those who had committed suicide, but instead at the suicide rates of different countries compared to the social factors that link the countries together (Durkheim 1970, p40).

People commit suicide on a daily basis, not only in the United States of America, but all over the entire world. Dying by suicide or losing someone from suicide can be incredibly traumatic for families, loved ones, and the victim. Also, dying from suicide by hanging, shooting, or harming oneself is not the utmost, moral, or ethical way to die, due to the physical pain. Furthermore, there are a

The ethical dilemma of this highly controversial subject will continue to split our approach to the notion of assisted suicide. As we age, we come to terms with our own mortality, how we choose to leave this world isn’t always up us. For those who suffer from a terminal fate, maybe they should have the choice, and those who understand their current condition can provide them the dignity they deserve without repercussions. The only way we as a society can move ahead, is to find a common

The debate between Mark A.R. Kleinman and Ira Byock discuss the topic of suicide whether it should be legal or not; Kleinman is arguing for suicide to be legal, which will come to the conclusion that suicide should be allowed for anyone and not have any punishment for an attempt. Byock argues the opposing argument that suicide should be illegal, but the focus of this argument will be Kleiman’s point of view. The exigency, the problem that can be fixed, is viewed in this argument that it is the people’s right to kill themselves and this is due to the depression and/or the feeling of thinking they are better off dead. The audience directed towards this argument is people committing suicide and those who oppose the people committing the ‘crime’ of suicide. Constraints, the biases, in this situation would be ethical beliefs and the people who have witnessed or experienced these suicidal thoughts. Kleinman’s reasoning is the use of emotion and human rights are seen to enhance his argument. Therefore suicide should not be legal, it should be treated instead of encouraged.

On average, every day, 121 people die from suicide, which means 44,193 deaths each year just in the United States. On the other hand, for every one suicide, there are at least 25 attempts. Every attempt that “failed” is just another chance to save a life. An unknown source once quoted “Suicide doesn’t end the chances of life getting worse, it eliminates the possibility of it ever getting any better.” There are multiple methods a person can choose from to commit suicide, but this essay will be discussing two specific methods: jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge and physician-assisted suicide.

Durkheim went into detail about three-suicide types: anomic, altruistic, and egotistic. Anomic suicide makes individuals feel lost or alone in society. For example teen suicide, the teen cannot relate to another individual. Altruistic suicide is based on excessive regulations of individuals by social force. For example political or social pressure makes and individual feel disconnected with society or themselves. Egotistic suicide is a total detachment from society. He argues that suicide is a social factor. The social factors he argues are social surroundings and whether the individual is integrated in social structure. He does state as well does Mills that men have a higher rate of suicide than woman do. Mills believed that men were unable to make the connection between social and individual life. Durkheim and Mills both have different perspectives however they both believed that our society and individuals needed to make a connection in order to

If we decided that aiding in suicide was a bad thing, then now you would have to justify that pain and suffering was a good thing. If we decide that aiding in suicide was a good thing, then now you would have to justify that pain and suffering is a bad thing. More and more states are considering legalizing physician assisted suicide, it is clear that society as a whole is becoming more open to the idea that an individual has the right to choose their own outcome. It is important that we think objectively without judgment on this matter because human life needs to be valued in no matter what the decision on life or death is

“Americans have developed a paradoxical relationship with death-we know more about the causes and conditions surrounding death, but we have not equipped ourselves emotionally to cope with dying and death (Bender and B. Leone).” Death is a scary subject for all humans. And death caused by oneself, or suicide, is even scarier. Suicide on a medical terms, or euthanasia, confuses many people. It poses many moral questions to humans: should it be allowed? How is this

While discovering theories and research by sociologist Emile Durkheim, I was able to see a clear connection to how these theories could be applied to the amount of suicides to those of first nation decent. Considering citizens from first nations groups have been estimated to be eleven times more likely to commit suicide, there are underlying factors of why this may be. Durkheim’s theory states that suicide is a sociological issue and as we have seen there are many ways society could affect ones emotional state.

Traditionally, suicide was thought to be a purely individual decision but French sociologist Emile Durkheim recognized that the phenomenon had a social dimension. He believed in the influence of society on the individual and that if anything can explain that relation, it is suicide. His use of the data of suicide, not specific cases and reports, to study the societal trends reveals his true subject of study: society as a whole and its role in the individual experience. Durkheim uses the study of suicide via the quantitative methodological approach as a tool to study society as a broader whole.

“But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself” Albert Camus. This quote from his first novel perfectly illustrates the core belief surrounding suicide, both from the survivors’ point of view, as well as from the suicidal person’s. Indeed, suicide is often believed to be an act of cowardice by those who are left behind, whereas those who give up believe living requires much more courage than they have. Suicide has been creating controversy over the years. Its history and causal patterns are being discussed in this paper, as well as my interest and own experience of the subject, followed by a review of the possible contributing factors of its increasing rates in our mod-ern society.

This discussion leads us to the work of Emile Durkheim, specifically, his work with the socially confusing subject of suicide. Durkheim conducted an extensive study on suicide based on the