! Durkheim's Theory of Suicide: Social Causes and Types

Suicide is seen as a societal issue, not just an individual psychological problem.
Émile Durkheim's study, detailed in Ken Morrison's "Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought," explores why people have suicidal thoughts and the reasons behind four types of suicide.
Keywords: Egoistic Suicide, Altruistic Suicide, Anomic Suicide, Fatalistic Suicide.

Durkheim's research broadly connected suicide to social and environmental factors, including psychology, anthropology, religion, family, economic crises, and history.
Core Notion: Suicide, though seemingly individual, is caused by social structure and its functions (Baudelot & Establet, $2008$ ).
He began research in $1888$ , collecting suicide statistics by age, religion, sex, occupation, and status.

Durkheim shifted the understanding of suicide from a neurological/psychological condition to a sociological phenomenon.

Growing Social Problem: Suicide rates increased in Europe by $1850$ due to industrialization.
Dominance of Economic Institutions: Industrial society prioritized individual economic gain over collective ties.
Political Instability: Events like the Dreyfus Affair ( $1894$ ) affected national unity.
Societal Linkages: Societies began associating suicide with industrial change, occupation, family, and religion.

Durkheim focused on the "Social Suicide Rate" across nations, rather than personal motivations.

Variation Across Societies: Suicide rates differed significantly between countries (e.g., higher in France than Germany).
Stability Over Time: Suicide rates within countries remained stable between $1841$ and $1872$ , indicating consistent underlying social processes.
- Example: France had $2814$ deaths in $1841$ and $2866$ in $1872$ . Germany recorded $290$ and $318$ for the same years.
Distinct Social Environments: Stable rates suggested each society had unique social characteristics (religion, family) influencing suicide.
Greater than Mortality Rate: The suicide rate often exceeded the general mortality rate (Hodwitz & Frey, $2016$ ).

Durkheim's "Suicide" theory identifies four types: Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic, and Fatalistic.
These are explained by two main variables:
1. Social Integration: How connected individuals feel to their social groups.
2. Social Regulation: The societal rules and limits placed on individual desires.

Focus Note: This research primarily emphasizes egoistic suicide and its link to social integration.

Basic Claims: Suicide rates decrease with higher religious, familial, and political social integration (Durkheim, $1966$ : $208$ ).
Root Cause: Weakening of social bonds, leading to individual isolation and a focus on self. Occurs when connections to religious, family, and national organizations are weak.

Three Integrative Poles of Egoistic Suicide:

Religious Integration:
- Traditional View: Catholicism protects against suicide, while Protestantism, with its emphasis on individual interpretation, increases it.
- Empirical Developments: Later studies showed mixed results; some found no link, others a stronger correlation for Protestants in reducing rates. The influence of overall integration levels of religions was suggested as a factor (Simpson & Conklin, $1989$ ).
Family Integration:
- Strong family ties (e.g., marriage) protect against suicide.
Political Integration:
- Political crises don't always raise suicide rates; stability without strong social integration can increase them. This was observed by looking at suicide rates during wartime.

Definition: Suicide committed to preserve dignity or spare family humiliation, the opposite of egoistic suicide.
Context: Happens in highly integrated societies where group honor or values outweigh individual life (e.g., military, primitive communities).
Examples: Danish warriors dying gloriously, Goths throwing themselves from cliffs, Indian sages and widows (Sati practice), followers dying with their chiefs.
Cause: Excessive social integration where individual identity is lost to the group.

Anomic and fatalistic suicides represent extremes of social regulation (societal constraints).

Definition: The loss or absence of societal control (anomia).
Origin: Linked to unchecked economic growth in industrial society.
Mechanism: Society fails to set limits on individual needs and desires; social control is weak or absent.
Context: Often seen during economic crises (recessions, downturns), making life challenging for individuals.
Unemployment: A key factor disrupting control, increasing suicide likelihood among unemployed individuals (Powell, $1958$ ; Blakely, Collings, & Atkinson, $2003$ ). Men are more prone to suicide than women in this context.

Definition: Results from excessive regulation, the inverse of anomic suicide.
Mechanism: Individuals feel stifled by oppressive discipline, with no escape from extreme physical or moral oppression.
Examples: Suicides of very young husbands and slaves.
Context: Linked to political totalitarianism or over-regulated societies, where limited freedom and disrespect for human dignity make life seem pointless.
Porterfield's Theory ( $1952$ ): As society moves from traditional (gemeinschaft) to complex industrial (gesellschaft), suicide rates rise due to increased confusion and disagreement over social norms.

Durkheim theorized that social and economic changes loosen restrictions, leading to more suicides during transitional periods.
The Great Recession confirmed how major economic crises can impact suicide rates.
Durkheim's framework, using social integration and regulation, continues to provide a deep understanding of suicide and its social causes.