 “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

 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  Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the years age group  these figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide  Suicide worldwide is estimated to represent 1.8% of total global burden of disease in 1998  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  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 World Health Organization

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

19 TH 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

 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  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  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  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 higher in industry & commerce vs. agricultural occupations  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 9

 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 10

TYPES OF SUICIDE: ANOMIC, EGOISTIC, ALTRUISTIC  anomic suicide springs from the phenomenon discussed in DoL: the anomic state of moral deregulation characterizing economic relationships  egoistic suicide is caused where "the individual self asserts itself to excess in the face of the social self and at its expense…"  altruistic suicide occurs when the basis for man's existence seems to be situated beyond this life 11

 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 12

 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 13

 young white males  young black males  young Hispanic males  young Asian males  young white females  young black females  young Hispanic females  Asian females Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS),

 Highest rates of depression  Highest teen birthrate  Second highest school dropout rate  Research shows that additional factors may play a role; cultural clashes with parents, social isolation, and poverty 15

 young white males  young black males  young Hispanic males  young Asian males  young white females (9.8%)  young black females (9.3%)  young Hispanic females (14.9%)  Asian females Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS),