SUICIDE / LE SUICIDE
1897
IS SUICIDE A PLAGUE?

“Suffering is our problem. Suffering, mental
suffering, depression, panic, suicide. Suicide
has become a sort of plague everywhere in the
world. Suicide, from the Indian countryside, to
the Foxcon factory to the Telecom
France…according to the World Health
Organization, suicide has increased 45% in the
last 30 years, the years of the neoliberal
dictatorship.” (Franco Berardi)
2
World Health Organization
THE PROBLEM
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Almost 1 million people die from suicide every year; a "global" mortality rate
of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds
In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide
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Suicide worldwide is estimated to represent 1.8% of total global burden of
disease in 1998
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2.4% in countries w/ market and former socialist economies in 2020
Suicide rates have traditionally been highest among the male elderly
Rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that
they are now at highest risk in 1/3 of countries (developed & developing)
Mental disorders (particularly depression and alcohol use disorders) are a
major risk factor for suicide in Europe and N. America

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Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44
years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10-24
years age group
these figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more
frequent than completed suicide
However, in Asian countries impulsiveness is said to play an important role
Suicide is complex with psychological, social, biological, cultural and
environmental factors involved
3
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

4
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

5
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
6
DISTRIBUTION OF SUICIDE RATES IN WESTERN
EUROPE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGION
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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

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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
7
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

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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
8
SUICIDE RATES & OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE

Suicide rates higher in industry & commerce vs.
agricultural occupations
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Suicide rates are similarly high in ‘liberal
professions’ as in industry & commerce
 Highest
rates among ‘men of letters’
9
SUICIDE RATES & SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL
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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
10
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
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11
TYPES OF SUICIDE:
ANOMIC, EGOISTIC, ALTRUISTIC
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anomic suicide springs from the anomic state
of moral deregulation
12
EGOISTIC SUICIDE
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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
13
ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE
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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
14
WHICH SUBGROUP HAS THE HIGHEST RATE
OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE?
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young white males
young black males
young Hispanic males
young Asian males
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young white females
young black females
young Hispanic females
Asian females
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 2011
15
THE GROUP HAS THESE COMMON RISK FACTORS
FOR SUICIDE
Highest rates of depression
 Highest teen birthrate
 Second highest school dropout rate
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Research shows that additional factors may play
a role; cultural clashes with parents, social
isolation, and poverty
16
WHICH SUBGROUP HAS THE HIGHEST RATE
OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE?
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young white males (4.6%) 
young black males (7.7%) 
young Hispanic males (6.9%)
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young Asian males
young white females (7.9%)
young black females (8.8%)
young Hispanic females (13.5%)
Asian females
*Audio: "Why Are Young Latinas at Risk?," Talk of the Nation, NPR, 8/29/2006
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 2011