Seeman’s Theory/Durkheim & Suicide/ “The Bully” Debrief HSB4U Challenge and Change in Society

“The Bully Project”- a debrief “Bully” follows the real life experiences of several children and youth as they experience bullying in their schools in the United States.  It also tells the stories of two boys who committed suicide due to the bullying they experienced.

Why would this rating be problematic? The movie is shocking, disturbing, and powerful, evoking many different types of emotions. The rating for the movie “Bully” was originally given a controversial “R” rating. Why would this rating be problematic?

Let’s take a critical, multi-faceted look at this film

The Irony… How ironic does it seem to rate a movie “restricted”, when this is the reality that kids face every day of their lives? Contrast the rating of “Bully” to other movies that appear to be more violent with a lesser rating, such as PG-13. What conclusions can you make based on the above comparissons?

Barriers to Access (to the Film) Releasing the film into theatres where people have to purchase tickets to see it limits who gets to access it, as opposed to screening it for free in schools.  Screening the film in a school setting allows for debriefing following the film, which is very necessary with “Bully”.

Language Used The filmmakers chose to use language such as “fight bullying”, or “call for an army” to combat bullying, which may seem problematic to many. Why might that be?

Parent/Teacher/School Involvement Parents and teachers involved in these situations seemed to make things worse rather than better.  Several scenes showed teachers and principals minimizing the problem, denying that violence had occurred, and using their authority to silence children’s experiences of bullying.  This can be referred to as Victim Blaming Many of the parents seemed at a loss Seemingly putting more stress on the bullied child by putting the responsibility to stand up to bullying onto the child without an understanding of how severe the bullying was.

Under-representation Children and youth of colour in this film.  There was only 1 story out of 5 that followed a person of colour.  Young Black girl in a detention centre= problematic as it reinforces stereotypes of people of colour as criminals.  Kelby’s story- the lesbian lens is also given less air time How does this reflect the ideologies a particular culture, location etc? This girl’s story also seemed to get the least amount of air time in the film and did not seem to be explored as deeply as some of the other stories.

Question: Identify and explain which of Durkheim’s suicide types best describes the source of most adolescent suicides today.

Let’s take a look at suicide types through newspaper articles… http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.3 60/blog/2006/06/new-orleans-suicide-rate-nearly.html http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/12/11/bernie _madoffs_son_found_dead_in_apparent_suicide.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24604558 Can you differentiate between the different types of suicide, according to Emile Durkheim?

Seeman’s Theory Social Isolation that could be classified into 5 distinct elements Powerlessness, meaninglessness, normalessness, social isolation, and self-estrangement Powerlessness: Belief held by the individual that his/her behaviour cannot determine a desired outcome. A person who has an alcohol dependence may feel powerlessness, because they cannot bridge the gap between wanting to become sober, and drinking more alcohol.

Powerlessness comes about when the individual does not believe to have the necessary skills or means to accomplish desired goals* Meaninglessness contributes to alienation; people feel a sense of meaninglessness when they are unable to predict outcomes of their behaviour or future behaviour; “What’s the point?” mentality An individual eat, sleeps, works, and repeats his daily habits without knowing where his life is leading, with no particular future goals. He feels a strong sense of loneliness and despair.

Normlessness or ANOMIE happens when society ceases to provide meaning, function or moral direction to individuals This leads to a break down of responsibility, connection and involvement Isolation can result, alienation and then by definition Chaos. How does this happen? Rules are too rigid Disconnect occurs Norms, expectations do not match the desires of the individual

Social Isolation is usually experienced as a form of personal stress, rooted in social organization and institutions to which the individual belongs= segregation from one’s community Someone who has decided to break free from the “norm” is now isolated from his/her community; i.e. someone from a religious community who has decided to go against the teaching of his/her religion would be socially isolated from their religious institution= segregated.

Self-Estrangement is the state of emotional and psychological being in which the individual denies or opposes personal interests and prefers to engage in impersonal, external activities to satisfy needs. “Gradually becoming a stranger to oneself” The more self-alienated we become, the less attuned we are to our real wants, needs, hopes, and dreams= increasingly more difficult for a self-estranged person to find real joy in life= life starts to lose meaning= we no longer have any idea what might bring us a sense of purpose or fulfillment. -Result? Possible Suicide

Durkheim and Suicide Suicide is related with the type of social alienation that Seeman refers to Social relationships a guiding force contributing to suicidal tendencies amongst adolescents? Emile Durkheim tried to explain suicide: examination of the social problem of suicide Deterioration/collapse due to highly overbearing social relationships

3 Distinct Types of Suicide Altruistic Suicide: Individual will commit suicide for the perceived benefit of the group; dying for a greater social cause Egoistic Suicide: Not part of a social group, overpowering sense of responsibility= guilt over perceived moral weakness/failure; isolated and helpless in times of stress Anomic Suicide: Responds to social change negatively, no clear modes of behaviour to guide individual= confusion, life is meaningless, brought on by major disruption in life (death)