1. The Suicide debate

2. The sociology of suicide may be examined as a form of deviance
The Suicide Debate
The sociology of suicide may be examined as a form of deviance
Used to illustrate methodological debates

3. The Suicide debate Explaining theories of social disturbution
Evaluating the functionalist explanation of suicide
Explaining the social construction of suicide statistic
Evaluating the positivist approach to sociology
Assess the usefulness of the comparative survey
Assessing the usefulness of secondary data and official statistics in particular

4. Durkheim
Develops the debate over positivism. His method was ‘multivariate analysis’
Comparisions of social factors with the incident to event
Studied statistics and collected death certificates and official documents
He found clear patterns

5. His study
Over 20 years suicide rate different by regions, countries, religions, married, unmarried
He found that the greater the level of social integration the happier the society
This was reinforced by religion ‘shared values’ and through the family
Social institutions help to integrate people into society
Can you suggest any? Give an explanation of how they fulfil this role!

6. Categorising suicide Durkheim identified 4 types of suicide Egoistic
Alturistic
Anomic
Fatalistic
Divide into groups and create a mini presentation (publisher) on a category
these to me
20 minute task

7. Evaluating Durkheim
His study was used for over 70 years and provided the basis of positivistic research. He threw Sociology into the respectable ranks of ‘science’.
Yet…interpretive sociologists say this form of research into the individual in society is fundamentally flawed. Interpretive sociologists seek a different understanding

8. Suicide : Interpretivism
Douglas 1967
Investigate the four ways people commit suicide
Atkinson 1971
Investigate Atkinson’s social construction of suicide

9. From Positivism to Interpretivism to Taylor
Says they have all missed ‘parasuicides’
Where the person is not certain whether they want to die or not, and gambles with their life ‘risk taking’…develops Durkheim’s so he suggests successful ‘parasuicides’ can be categorised as ‘ordeal’ sucides

10. Taylor 1990 So Taylor pulls wider social factors (Durkheim)
With Douglas’s meanings
Ordeal suicides
Relates to Durkheim’s
‘Anomie’: they feel this profoundly
Purposive suicides
Similar to fatalism
More likely to happen in individuals too detached from others in society
(egoistic)
And in those over attached
(altruistic)