Life On The Island By Emily Esfahani Smith Summary

n the story The reefs by Marcella Morris the theme of 'never give up.' is developed as a girl named Sophie who attends a school in new york feels she can solve an environmental issue but is rejected by her professors and isn't allowed to use the school lab, so she sets up her own in her aunts home to conduct research and experiments on the endangered species of the reefs. Throughout the story, she describes how her friend Sam helped her by using his humor to encourage her and was there when she found the solution. The climax sets in as Sophie hesitated to enter the door in fear that the scientists would laugh and ridicule her solution and because of Sam, she goes in. Sophie walks confidently to the front and begins her presentation, and at

In the “A Culture of Narcissism” Christopher Lasch says American culture is becoming “ A culture of Narcissism”, and that we are focused so much on ourselves that we don’t have a personality or sense of self. Also he says that we are becoming materialistic people and we are getting lost in objects. He even talks about celebrities being famous for no reason and having wealth, which takes away hard work in society. Even in politics people will vote for who's more popular regardless of what they say. This book sounds very significant now then it was back then.

Durkheim’s theories and work on suicide classified the phenomenon into four types; Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic and Fatalistic (Ritzer Pg 200-202). Durkheim’s concept of social integration ties into egoistic suicide as it

The importance of social factors over the individual can also be seen in Durkheim’s work on suicide (Stones, 2008). Suicide was explained in terms of two independent variables, integration in society and regulation by society. Low levels of integration led to egoistic suicide, while low levels of regulation led to anomic suicide. Durkheim cited egoism and anomie as the main causes of suicide in the modern world; a world which he believed showed less interaction and people thinking more about themselves than others. As a result, people are less bound to one another, there is less community and social control is weaker (Stones, 2008). Durkheim applied his

Is narcissism a growing epidemic in America? This question was featured in an article on the Psychology Today website (Baskin, S.). The article claims that narcissism in America is growing as fast as obesity and is quickly becoming an epidemic. Which begs the question, should we as a society be worried about narcissism? For those of us not familiar with Narcissistic Personality Disorder it is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV as a pervasive disorder characterized by self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. As with other personality disorders, it becomes a problem when these traits become a persistent pattern of behavior that negatively impacts different life

Feelings of isolation have been linked to higher suicide rates. Durkheim’s study on suicide during the industrial revolution supports this theory as he states that, “people were increasingly disconnected from their communities and that this social upheaval had a greater effect on suicide rates than other factors like wealth” (Winner & Collishaw, 2011). Interestingly enough, despite the increase of media attention on suicide, no studies have been published that explain why suicide rates vary among different groups. However, various factors are involved in the decision to commit suicide. As a result, suicide rates vary according to race, gender and age.

The third key idea is the gender gap. The text defines the gender gap of suicide by explaining that even though women have a higher rate of suicide attempts, men have a higher rate of suicidal deaths. This term was well defined in the article and the information given with it was presented substantially. The authors put together convincing statistics, although one source that was associated with multiple statistics was from 1997, which brings to question the validity of those statistics in today’s rapidly- changing society; almost 20 years later.

What people believe is right might be considered to be wrong in the future. Self-preoccupation is pointless when people find selflessness. Everyone is the essential element in the environment, and everyone can contribute to the society. Self-preoccupation can only encourage people to become

statistics displayed that some categories of people were more prone to take their own lives,

Suicide is the act of killing yourself. It is the 11th leading cause of death in America (CDC 2009). I have never had any intentions on committing suicide and I never really understood why people commit suicide that’s why I chose this topic to help me understand what problems people go through that makes them do such a thing. Sociology is the study of social behavior and the culture of humans. There are numerous reasons like financial stress, family problems or mental health disorders that lead to suicide. The number one cause of suicide is untreated depression. The issues that were just listed are some social conditions from society that results in a suicidal

Emile Durkheim was considered one of the greats of the sociology world. His use of scientific methodology to identify social factors which contributed to suicide has produced a foundational model for empirically based social research still relevant in sociology today. The purpose of this essay is to examine Durkheim’s study of the social causes of suicide, specifically how his theory of social integration and regulation contributed in interpreting these differences in suicide rates. This essay will argue that although heavily criticised Durkheim’s findings of the social factors which contributed to suicide are still relevant in Australia today more than a century later. In order to support this claim, firstly an overview of Durkheim’s social theory will be provided, specifically of his social causes of suicide. In addition it will then focus on how Durkheim interpreted these differences in suicide rates between various groups using his theory of social integration and discuss the two types of suicide Durkheim identified in this area. We will then discuss social regulation and its two forms of suicide. Criticism of his theory will then be discussed, before providing relevant statistics from Australia in regards to suicide rates of teen and indigenous communities and examine these figures to explain these variances in light of Durkheim’s social theory’s, to support the fact that Durkheim’s theory’s are still relevant in Australia today. Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 in a

Suicide, as an example of a social issue, is explained with the functionalism perspective by not focusing on the individual unhappiness, but instead on the group rates of suicide resulting form external forces. This may be caused by normlessness, which may result from periods of rapid social change, and people find it hard and unclear about how to deal with problems in their life. This frustration

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.

Durkheim does not see egoism, altruism, anomie and fatalism as types of suicide, but types of social structure that highlight the presence or lack of integration and regulation. It must be stressed that this excess/lack of integration and regulation are not seen as direct causes of suicide, rather Durkheim sees a number of voluntary deaths in society as inevitable; integration and regulation are merely prophylactic to suicidal impulses, which when taken to excess or dramatically reduced, fail to act as a preventative, and so suicides occur. This clarification is an important strength of Durkheim’s theory: it allows the biography of the individuals who kill themselves to vary, while still explaining underlying pressures/lack of to explain their deaths, and the varying suicide rates between groups.

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist credited with developing the functionalist theory. He believed that society should be viewed as a structure with each person playing a role, creating, to some extent a “functional” society. He also stated that society is held together through mutual acceptance of various norms and values. Durkheim published “Suicide” in 1897, which as the title suggests is centred round suicide and the patterns of suicide within society, a subject which at the time was seen as taboo. He believed that sociological influences were contributing factors of suicide, although the act itself is considered by society to be, one of individual choice. Durkheim also suggested that “anomie” played a pivotal role in suicide.