Sociological Approach to Suicide

Paper Summary:

This paper explains how, according to the functionalist theory described by Emile Durkheim, suicide rates are social facts based on other established social facts and thus have a sociological basis. The writer points out that, as suicide rates are social facts, Durkheim sets out to provide an empirical basis of social explanation regarding suicide, providing a far different account of trends than the previously perceived notion that suicide is based purely on individual or psychological reasons. It shows how the phenomenon of what actually motivates the occurrence of suicide can be examined from a social perspective, implicating society as a factor in stimulating an individual to commit suicide.

From the Paper:

"As Henslin explains in Down to Earth Sociology, the study of sociology proposes several different events. He explains, societies structure and nuances are interrelated, society is dynamic and defined in history, and individuals can flourish in society through a system of selection. Thus, sociologists like Durkheim study the dynamics of society to account for historical and social justifications, finding relevance in social outcomes. In the case of suicide, Durkheim defines it as, "all cases of death resulting directly of indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result," excluding accidental deaths from this scenario. Upon Durkheim's functionalist analysis of suicide rates, factoring in demographics, he accounted for distinct trends in the consistency of the rates, noting a series of social sets implying a collective tendency toward the results. He narrowed his theory on societal influence on suicide rates to sets defined by deviations in social behavior or moral behavior."

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