Durkheim was arguing that society can put so much pressure on people, that if/when people commit suicide; society can be just as much to blame.

Question

Durkheim was arguing that society can put so much pressure on people, that if/when people commit suicide; society can be just as much to blame.

 

True or False

Answer 1

Durkheim was fascinated by suicide. So much so, he wrote a whole book about suicide. He believed there to be four types of suicide. All of which he classified based on different types of relationships between the "actor" and society. Durkheim argues that social disorganization, lack of social integration as well as social integrity are all factors that mainly contribute to suicide. An interesting study that Durkheim conducted was looking at suicide rates between Catholics and Protestants. He found that Catholics had lower numbers of suicide because they had stronger forms of social control and cohesion. Below I've listed Durkheims four types of suicide. It is safe to say that Durkheim strongly believed society is a main cause of suicide.

1. Egoistic suicide
2. Altruistic suicide
3. Anomic suicide
4. Fatalistic suicide