The Sociology of Emile Durkheim
Agenda
Objective:
1. To understand the
sociology of Emile
Durkheim and its
contributions to the
field of sociology.
Schedule:
1. Discussion of
Durkheim’s Theory
2. Jesus Camp
Homework
1. Marx, Weber, and
Durkheim
Assignment Due
Friday 3/22!
Emile Durkheim
• 1858-1917
• French
• Originally planned to become a rabbi
but turned away from religion and
became agnostic.
• Became a professor of philosophy at
the University of Bordeaux
• In 1913 became the first of official
sociologist in France with his
professorial title being “Professor of
the Science of Education and
Sociology”
• “Founded” the field of sociology by
defining its subject matter and its
methodology
• Major Works
– The Division of Labor (1893)
– Suicide (1897)
– The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
(1912
Historical Context
• Durkheim’s thinking was influenced by
two theories gaining prominence in the
late 1800s:
– Sociological positivism
– Social Realism
Historical Context: Sociological Positivism
• Idea developed by Auguste Comte
(man who coined the phrase
sociology)
• Sought to apply the scientific method
to the social sciences.
• Said that true social science should
use empirical facts to discover the
universal laws that govern social life.
• Durkheim adopts this positivism and
uses this methodological approach in
all his words.
– In all his works he looks to
empirical social facts and from
them tries to deduce universal
social laws.
Historical Context: Social Realism
• Durkheim adopted a realist
perspective and sought to
demonstrate the existence
of social realities outside
of the individuals.
• Durkheim blended realism
with positivism to argue
that sociology would not
only discover social laws
but would be able to
discover the inherent
nature of society.
The Rules of the Sociological
Method
Durkheim’s Definition of
Social Facts
• A social fact is every way of acting,
fixed or not, capable of exercising on
the individual an external constraint; or
gain, every way acting which is general
throughout a given society, while at the
same time existing in its own right
independent of its individual
manifestations.
Get in the Elevator!
Social Facts
Norms, Values, Customs, Laws
Acts in Accordance
with Social Facts
Violates Social
Facts (Faces Social
Sanctions)
Suicide
Suicide
• Written in 1897.
• Goal was to use the study
of suicide to prove the
existence of social facts.
– To prove that behavior is
guided by social forces.
Understanding Suicide
• What are some reasons
why people might commit
suicide?
• Is suicide a personal
trouble or a social issue?
• Do you think rates of
suicide vary from place
to place?
Durkheim’s Response to Country
Level Suicide Data
• Durkheim noted that suicide rates differed, by country.
• He felt that differences in the rates of suicides
suggested that more than individual factors were
operating.
• He thought that suicide must reflect changes in social
circumstances. The problem was to discover the nature
of these circumstances and their causes.
Durkheim’s Hypothesis
• Durkheim arrived at his hypothesis that the
basic causes of suicide were social in nature.
• So he looked at how social factors might
shape the likelihood of an individual to
commit suicide:
– Religion
– Marital Status
– Geography
– Gender
– Military Affiliation
Findings
Suicide Rate Higher Among
•
•
•
•
•
•
Protestants
Single People
Married, but Childless
City Dwellers
Men
Soldiers
Suicide Rates Lower Among
•
•
•
•
•
•
Catholics
Married People
Rural Residents
Parents
Women
Civilians
What’s Going on Here?
• Given these
findings, what
do you think
explains why
people commit
suicide?
• What are your
theories?
Suicide Rate Higher Among
•
•
•
•
•
•
Protestants
Single People
Married, but Childless
City Dwellers
Men
Soldiers
Suicide Rates Lower
Among
•
•
•
•
•
•
Catholics
Married People
Rural Residents
Parents
Women
Civilians
Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide
• From his evidence, Durkheim concluded that the
suicide rate was determined by the degree of
social attachment.
• He discovered, however, that the relationship was
a complex one.
• Suicide seemed to result
from both unusually high
levels and unusually low
levels of social
attachment.
The Four Types of Suicide
From his findings, he was able to generalize that there were four
basic types of suicide:
Altruistic
Egoistic
Anomic
Fatalistic
Altruistic Suicide
Excessive Integration
Heaven’s Gate Cult Suicide 1997
Egoistic Suicide
Low Integration
Anomic Suicide
Not Enough Regulation
ANOMIE
• A lack of regulation occurring with breakdown of
order in modern life
• Anomie is a constant feature of modern life
• Where do you see a similarity to Marx and Weber?
Fatalistic Suicide
Excessive Regulation
The Suicide of Tyler Clementi
Elementary Forms of
Religious Life
Religion: The Origins of Collective Conscience
• RELIGION: “A unified system of beliefs and practices relating to sacred
things … which unite into one single moral community called a church all
those who adhere to them.”
• Durkheim studies religion as the fundamental institution of social life, upon
which the collective identity is structured.
• Religion unites members through the creation of a collective conscience.
All religious expression is founded on the identification of members to a
group.
• Shared religious beliefs and values also reinforce the strength of the
collective conscience.
Why did Durkheim study “primitive”
society to understand religion?
• Simplicity allows for analysis of
“essential” features.
• These societies are different enough
from our own experience that we are
able to see important features.
• Durkheim looked for “the elements
which constitute that which is
permanent and human in religion;
they form all the objective contents
of the idea which is expressed when
one speaks of religion in general.”
Totemism
Sacred V. Profane
• Religion is defined by the cultural
distinction between the sacred
and profane.
• Sacred – objects extraordinary
and set apart
• Profane – everyday, ordinary
objects
• Notions of the sacred are given
external representation through
objects or symbols, called
collective representations.
Religion and Collective Conscience
• These social categories shape
how we think and orient
ourselves to world: time,
space, quality . . .
• Establish our basic categories
of thought!
– “If men did not agree
upon these essential ideas
at every moment… all contact between their minds
would be impossible, and with that, all life together.
Thus societies could not abandon the categories to the
free choice of the individual without abandoning
itself.”
• Collective conscience guides human action!
– “We have the feeling that we cannot abandon them if
our whole thought is not to cease being fully human.”
Function of Religion?
• Religion is a way of expressing and
reaffirming shared social beliefs, a
functional element of society.
• “There can be no society which
does not feel the need of upholding
and reaffirming at regular intervals
the collective sentiments and
collective ideals… This moral
remaking cannot be achieved except
by the means of reunions,
assemblies, and meetings where
individuals reaffirm their common
sentiments.”
Small Group Discussion: Other
Institutions as “Religions”
– Pick another social institution (ex. Education) and
apply Durkheim’s theory of the elementary forms of
religion to it.
– What are some examples of the sacred and the
profane in your institution? (Beliefs, values, cultural
objects, etc.)
– Describe the group that it defines – Whose collective
conscience does the institution reinforce?
– What are some important collective representations of
the “religion?”
– Describe the positive and negative rituals associated
with the institution– how do members reaffirm their
membership?
Applying Durkheim
Analysis of the Documentary
Jesus Camp
Jesus Camp
• About the film:
– 2006 documentary about a charismatic Christian
(Pentecostal Evangelicals) summer camp for
children.
• Questions:
– How are the religious beliefs of the church profiled
a reflection of their society?
• What do they hold sacred, what do they deem profane?
– How is their worship an act of worshipping
society?
– How is the mindset/worldview of the people an
example of anomie?
– How is the church an example of extreme social
integration?
– How would Marx/ Weber interpret the film?