Outline and evaluate Durkheims theory of suicide.

Outline and evaluate Durkheims theory of suicide.

Durkheim published his acclaimed throw Suicide: a study of sociology. Many subsequent studies since of suicide have been due to his book. Others have time-tested to prove that Durkheims theory was successful in explaining suicide and consequentially tried to improve them, whilst others reject his theory completely.


Emile Durkheim applied his scientific system to kindly facts in his study of suicide. Durkheim believed that suicide was the most personalized act anybody could take. He believed that he could show that the most soul act could be linked to psychology, had genial causes, which validated the fountain and worth of sociology.


Durkheim believed that society had two functions: social integration, this is the beliefs attitudes set and demeanour patterns ar shared amongst people in a social group. Moral regulation the modality in which society regulates unmarrieds, the norms and values which constrain peoples behaviour. He believed that when these functions break down, the individual could not control the environment they live in and are left to their own devices. He called this anomie (society in which individuals do not have any firm guidelines about the way to behave with each other.) (Lawson and Garrod 1996).



Social change could create anomie, such as closure of large factories causing high unemployment. Thus perhaps creating a link leading to suicidal tendencies.

Durkheim hypothesised, that suicide vary between the groups and examined its empirical validity. He did this with detailed statistics that he called social facts that could be used to find the sociological causes on suicide. He claimed he would be able to establish a coefficient of correlation between suicide and the social relations. Durkheim hypothesis was that suicide would be highest amongst young men, single people and Protestants.

He collected culture on suicides: where they lived how old they were, which religion, the...If you want to get a adept essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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