What is the most private, psychologically- rooted action that any of us could undertake?

SUICIDE The Sociological Forces Behind a Psychological Act

If suicide is a private act that we undertake freely and without enablement or constraint, then should we expect to see patterns at the macro level of analysis? In other words, should we expect to see a steady suicide rate within a collectivity or one that fluctuates widely?

Durkheim and suicide Explain the power of Emile Durkheim’s study. –behavior is not just psychological or biological Discovered that suicide varied among social groups – religion, social class, education, race, etc. CENTRAL FINDING: rates fluctuate with a person’s group affiliation and position in society (as well as with natural events like hurricanes) Suicide rates across nation states

EGOISTIC SUICIDE People who are more tightly bonded with a group and with other people are least likely to commit suicide. Loosely linked people are more likely to die at their own hands. EXAMPLES?

EGOISTIC SUICIDE - Examples Elderly (who have lost their work roles, as well as family and community bonds) Teens (who are in a period of rapid and uncontrollable transition) First year college students (who do not yet have strong social networks) Men (who are not embedded in social relationships of care and responsibility like women) People who have just lost their jobs

EGOISTIC SUICIDE - students About 20 percent of American college students have been s o depressed that they couldn’t do their work –About 75 percent feel entirely overwhelmed from time to time About 17 percent have thought seriously of committing suicide About one in every hundred has tried –The vast majority don’t succeed Why might suicide be on the rise in the United States? –People don’t take their meds

ANOMIC SUICIDE Occurs when the integrating forces of society break down and people feel lost or alone. Anomie = state of normlessness People who feel they have no power or without norms are more susceptible to death at their own hands. EXAMPLES?

ANOMIC SUICIDE - Examples Teens and first year college students (who often feel depression and hopelessness) Children of abuse or children of alcoholics Protestants (who focus their faith on an individual’s private, personal responsibility). –Catholics, Jews, Muslims all focus more on a communitarian orientation to worshiping g-d. –remember, anomic suicide is more likely when we have no clear norms to guide behavior.

ANOMIC SUICIDE - Examples Unmarried people (who don’t have the day-to- day connections to ground them). Everyone (in times of rapid social upheaval and change – when norms are more fluid and uncertain) Various ethnic groups?

Suicide and Ethnoracial Background Attempt: Hispanic women Succeed: Males (4:1 ratio over females) Succeed: Whites and Native Americans are highest Succeed in age group: Native Amer. Succeed in 65 and over age group: Asian American women Lowest success rate: Blacks

ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE Occurs when there is excessive regulation of individuals by society and people are overcommitted to a group Another dimension of this is when there is too much integration and people lose their sense of individuality. EXAMPLES?

ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE - Examples Cause followers (perhaps a member of a cult or the 9/11 hijackers or suicide bombers) Soldiers (who sacrifice themselves for the sake of the cause or others around them) –They lose sight of their individuality and desire to live.

Suicide and the Police Suicide Rate per 100,000 people for: Law Enforcement Officers – 18 People ages – 14.6 Total U.S. population – 11.1 SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Suicide Notes Most people who kill themselves leave a note of explanation. Why leave a note if suicide is such a private affair? Even in the private moment at death people succumb to social forces and think about what other people (their audience) will think.