SUICIDE / LE SUICIDE
1897
SUICIDE AND MODERNITY
key motivation: to bring moral issues into study
of suicide
 methodological objective: application of
sociological method to explain what appears on
its face to be an "individual" phenomenon
 separates distribution of suicide rates and the
etiology (causes) of individual cases of suicide

2
19TH CENTURY SUICIDE DATA SHOW STABLE DISTRIBUTIONS FROM
YEAR TO YEAR INTERSPERSED WITH PERIODIC FLUCTUATIONS
Therefore, patterns of suicide rates must
depend upon stably distributed phenomena of
geographical, biological, or social kind
 ED considers geography and biology in detail,
but rejects both, focusing on the social factor

3
TWO KEY CONDITIONS THAT ARE “CHRONIC” IN
MODERN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
egoisim: a lack of integration of the individual
into the social group
 anomie: a lack of moral regulation
 These conditions, in the extreme, pathological
form express themselves as:

 egoistic
suicide
 anomic suicide
4
DISTRIBUTION OF SUICIDE RATES IN WESTERN
EUROPE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGION


Predominantly Catholic countries have lower suicide rates
than those which are mainly Protestant
Both creeds prohibit suicide w/equal stringency, so it's
necessary to look for differences in the social organization of
the two churches

Difference is that Protestantism is founded upon the promotion of
a spirit of free inquiry



Catholic church is formed around traditional hierarchy of the priesthood,
whose authority is binding in matters of religious dogma, but the
Protestant is alone before God
Protestantism is "less strongly integrated" church than Catholicism
Suicide rates are higher among Protestants than
Catholics or Jews

Jews, like Catholics, are considered more “communally oriented”
than Protestants
5
DEGREE OF INTEGRATION IN OTHER SECTORS OF SOCIETY
RELATED TO SUICIDE RATES IN SAME WAY
unmarried persons show higher rates of suicide
than married ones of comparable age
 inverse relationship between suicide and size of
conjugal unit



the greater # of children, lower suicide rate
suicide declines in times of national political crisis
and in times of war

in war this holds for those in armed forces and civilians
 political
crises stimulate involvement in events, for a time,
bringing about closer integration of society
6
SUICIDE RATES & OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE
Suicide rates higher in industry & commerce vs.
agricultural occupations
 Within non-agricultural occupations, suicide
rates inversely related to socio-economic level

 Lowest
among chronically poor
 Highest among well-to-do & those in the liberal
professions
 Poverty itself is a source of moral restraint
7
SUICIDE INCREASES DURING BOOMS AND BUSTS
not simply the result of economic deprivation,
since suicide increase in equivalent degree
during sudden prosperity
 moves both up and down in terms of prosperity
have a disruptive effect upon accustomed
modes of life
 in either case, people’s habitual expectations
come under strain

8
TYPES OF SUICIDE:
ANOMIC, EGOISTIC, ALTRUISTIC
anomic suicide springs from the phenomenon
discussed in DoL: the anomic state of moral
deregulation characterizing economic
relationships
 egoistic suicide is caused where "the individual
self asserts itself to excess in the face of the social
self and at its expense…"
 altruistic suicide occurs when the basis for man's
existence seems to be situated beyond this life

9
EGOISTIC SUICIDE

Egoistic suicide is caused where "the individual
self asserts itself to excess in the face of the
social self and at its expense…"
 Egoistic
suicide is particularly characteristic of
contemporary societies
 Egoistic suicide linked to the "cult of the individual"
in contemporary societies
10
ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE


in altruistic suicide an individual gives his life for the
social group
the primary type of
suicide in small,
traditional societies
where individuation
is minimal
11
THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF
RELIGIOUS LIFE (1912)
RELIGION & SOCIETY
The fundamental categories of thought, and
consequently of science, are based on religion
 If religion has given birth to all that is essential
in society, it is because the idea of society is
the soul of religion

13
A FUNCTIONALIST THEORY OF RELIGION

Theory concerns the functional role of religion in society

The importance of ED's novel understanding of religion is
that it leads to a clarification of the nature of the
continuity between the traditional forms of society and the
modern

"In order to understand these new forms, one must
connect them with religious phenomena properly
speaking"
14
THEORY OF RELIGION BASED ON STUDY OF ONE
OF SIMPLEST, MOST PRIMITIVE RELIGIONS

Australian totemism
 the existence of supernatural divinities is not
essential to religion

there are systems of belief and practices which
we should quite properly call religious, but
where gods and spirits are absent or are of
minor importance
15
WHAT IS A RELIGIOUS BELIEF CANNOT BE
DEFINED WRT SUBSTANTIVE CONTENT OF IDEAS

they presuppose a classification of all things
known to men, real and ideal, into two classes,
two distinct kinds: the sacred and profane

the character of religious thought relies on the
notion of dichotomy itself
16
RELIGION ALWAYS INVOLVES PRESCRIBED
RITUAL PRACTICES & AN INSTITUTIONAL FORM
A religion is never simply a set of beliefs; it always
also involves prescribed ritual practices and a
definite institutional form
 There is no religion which does not have a church,
although the form which this assumes varies
widely


Church refers to the existence of a regularized ceremonial
organization pertaining to a definite group of worshippers

it does not imply that there is necessarily a specialized priesthood
17
DURKHEIM’S DEFINITION OF RELIGION

Religion: A religion is a unified (solidaire)
system of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things, that is to say, things set apart
and forbidden - beliefs and practices which
unite into one single moral community called a
church, all those who adhere to them.
18
THE EQUATION OF SOCIETY AND THE SACRED
MUST NOT BE MISUNDERSTOOD

ED does not argue that religion creates society
 this
leads to a misinterpretation of his theory as
idealism

By contrast, ED says religion is the expression
of the self-creation, the autonomous
development, of human society
19