Le Suicide, Durkheim’s third major work
is of great importance. Because it is his first serious effort to establish an
empiricism in sociology. An empiricism that would provide a sociological
explanation for a phenomenon traditionally regarded as exclusively psychological
and individualistic.
Durkheim
sought to develop a sociological theory of suicide which meant that suicide had
to be explained in terms of social causes. Durkheim has made extremely minute
and detailed study of the phenomenon of suicide. His theory of suicide is
related in various ways to his study of Division
of labour. It is also linked with his theory of “social constraint” and his views on “Collective conscience.” He used the method of statistical analysis
displaying sociological realism. This method serves two purposes:
a.
To refute theories based on psychology, biology,
genetics, climatic and geographical factors.
b.
To support with empirical evidence his own
sociological explanation of suicide.
Thus the
phenomena of suicide demonstrate the function of sociological theory in
empirical science.
Durkheim has
established the view that there are no societies in which suicide does not
occur. It means suicide may be considered a normal that is regular occurrence.
However, sudden increase in suicide rates may be witnessed. This he said could
be taken as “an index of disintegrating
forces at work in a social structure.” He also came to the conclusion that
different rates of suicide are the consequences of differences in degree and
type of social solidarity. Suicide is a kind of index to decay in social
solidarity.
According to
Durkheim, suicide refers to “every case
of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative death
performed by the victim himself and which strives to produce this result.”
Durkheim used this definition to separate true suicide from accidental deaths.
He then collected several European Nations suicide rte statistics, which proved
to be relatively constant among those nations and among smaller demographics
within those nations. Thus a collective tendency towards suicide was
discovered.
CAUSES OF SUICIDE
Of equal
importance to his methodology, Durkheim drew theoretical conclusions on the
social causes of suicide. According to Durkheim, the causation of suicide
should be referred to social structure and its ramifying functions. These may
perform three functions:
a.
Inducement
b.
Perpetuation
c.
Aggravation of suicide potential
According to
Durkheim, it is the social circumstances and the influence of the collective
consciousness which are mainly responsible for the phenomenon of suicide. He
says, “Suicide is an act which society
disapproves of expiation.” Durkheim also showed that all other views
regarding it are as a matter of fact conditioned by the prevailing social
conditioned and mirror the collective consciousness. According to Durkheim a
depressed man commits suicide not because of depression but due to heightened sensitivity
to social conditions in a depressed man.
TYPES OF SUICIDES
Durkheim proposed four types of Suicide,
based on the degrees of imbalance of two social forces:
- Social Integration
- Moral regulation
i.
Egoistic
or Individualistic Suicide: According to Durkheim, when a man becomes
socially isolated or feels that he has no place in the society he destroys
himself. This is the suicide of self-centred person who lacks altruistic
feelings and is usually cut off from main stream of the society.
For example, He found that among the
Catholics suicides were comparatively less than among the Protestants. He also
found that Catholicism is able to integrate its members more fully into its
fold. On the other hand, Protestantism fosters spirit of free inquiry, permits
great individual freedom, lacks hierarchic organizations and has fewer common
beliefs and practices. It is known that the Catholic Church is more powerfully
integrated than the Protestant church. It is in this way the Protestants are
more prone to commit suicide than the Catholics. Hence, Durkheim generalized
that the lack of integration is the main cause of egoistic suicide.
ii.
Altruistic Suicide: This type of suicide results
from high level of integration of the individual into his social group.
Durkheim found another type of relationship of the individual with the moral
order i.e. excessive binding of the individual to society which often leads to
suicide.
There are three
different types of altruistic suicide.
a. Obligatory altruistic suicide. In
obligatory altruistic suicide, individual is so strongly governed by customs
and traditions that there is repeated tendency among individuals to
sub-ordinate personal interests and sacrifice one’s life in order to achieve
social ends. This is seen among the societies which impose ancient forms of
obedience. So it is common among the primitive people. The practice of “sati”
which was once in practice in North India is another example of this kind.
b. Optional altruistic suicide. This type
of optional altruistic suicide is not so much so obligatory or imposed by the
society on the individuals. They are optional in nature. Japanese sometimes
illustrate this type of suicide. They call it “Harakiri.” In this practice of
Harakiri, some Japanese go to the extent of taking off their lives for the sake
of the larger social unity. They consider that self-destruction would prevent
the breakdown of social unity, self-immolation by Buddhist monks are the
examples.
c. Acute altruistic suicide. Here
individual commits suicide purely for the joy of sacrifice and for higher
existence. Durkheim states that altruistic suicide is a characteristic of less
advanced societies. However durkhem finds in modern society the example of the
solider in the army. Wherever altruistic suicide is prevalent, man is always
ready to sacrifice his life for a great cause, principle, ideal or value.
iii.
Anomic Suicide: This type of suicides are
concerned with social disorganization and imbalance. Anomie means normlessness.
Anomie describes the situation in which normative framework breaks down-goals
again outrun the means and suicide rate increase. Anomic suicide is more likely
to occur when the regulative powers of society are disrupted. Such disruptions
are likely to leave individuals dissatisfied because there is little control
over their passions. Rates of anomic suicide are likely to rise whether the
nature of disruption in positive or negative. This type of suicide occurs
during industrial or financial crises, it is not because they cause poverty,
since crises of prosperity have the same result, but because they are crises of
the collective order.
Anomic suicide was of
particular interest to Durkheim. So he divided it into four categories.
a. Acute economic anomie. Sporadic
decrease in the ability of traditional institutions such as religion, guilds,
pre-industrial social systems etc. to regulate and fulfill social needs.
b. Chronic economic anomie. This was a
product of long term diminution of social regulation of the relation between
means and ends. The erosion of the influence of agencies that had exercised
moral restraint over economic relations, particularly religious and
occupational groups, resulted in industry being regarded as an end in itself.
Thus, the suicide rates were higher in manufacturing and commercial occupations
than they were in agriculture, because the latter still had traditions and
customs that exercised restraint. Constant economic strife for limitless goals
could not bring happiness as was shown by the fact that the higher
socio-economic strata had higher rates of suicide than the poor.
c. Acute domestic anomie. Sudden changes
on the micro-social level resulted in an inability to adapt and therefore
higher suicide rates. Widowhood is a prime example of this type of anomie.
d. Chronic domestic anomie. It refers to
the way marriage as an institution regulated the sexual and behavioural
means-needs balance among men and women. Marriage provided different
regulations for each. However, Bachelors tended to commit suicide at higher
rates than married man because of a lack of regulation and established goals
and expectations. On the other hand, traditionally marriage has served to over
regulate the lives of women by further restricting their already limited
opportunities and goals. Unmarried women, therefore, do not experience chronic
domestic anomie nearly as often as do unmarried men.
iv.
Fatalistic Suicide. Fatalistic suicide was at the high extreme of the regulation continuum.
He described it as suicide of “persons
with futures pitilessly blocked and passions violently choked by oppressive
discipline”. Durkheim sees it as rare phenomena in the real world and found
where there is an excessive norm and regulations prevail. For examples such as the situation of childless
married women (presumably where divorce was difficult), young husbands, and
slaves.
Emile Durkheim’s most famous work, “Suicide: A Study in Sociology” was
prepared to flout common sense and excite the imagination of people. It is
widely regarded as sociology’s exemplary piece of research because it
skillfully interrelates theory and data, using data to test and develop theory,
and using theory to explain data. It is an approach which allowed Durkheim to
reject competing biological and psychological theories while validating his
sociological theory of variation in suicide rates.
No comments:
Post a Comment