Durkheim- Suicide

Question 1

What are the 2 social facts Durkheim identifies?

Answer 1

1) Social Integration
- sense of belonging to a group
- individuals have a strong bond in highly integrated society

2) Moral Regulation
- individual actions are kept in check by norms and values
- without regulating goals are incapable of satisfaction

Question 2

Durkheim’s 4 types of suicide

Answer 2

1) Egoistic
- too little social integration
- most common in modern society
- caused by lack of social ties- excessive individualism

2) Altruistic
- too much social integration
- putting others before oneself
- group interest overrides that of the individual
- feel it is there duty to die- war heroes

3) Anomic
- too little moral regulation
- norms become unclear and social change crates uncertainty
- Great Depression for example
- expectations and desires rise a lot

4) Fatalistic
- too much moral regulation
- society controls the individual completely
- slaves me prisoners are examples

Question 3

What 4 patterns did he note?

Answer 3

1) Suicide rates for any given society remained more or less constant over time
2) the rates feel during war time while they rose during economic depression
3) different societies have different rates
4) rates varied between social groups- Catholics have lower rates than Protestants

• he said suicides can not be a result of individual motives
• it’s social forces who act upon individuals