Suicide Flashcards
What sociologists do you need to know for suicide?
Durkeim
Douglas
Atkinson
Taylor
Was Durkeim a positivist or a interpretavist?
Positivist
What does Durkeim see suicide as?
A social fact
What type of data did Durkeim use?
Quantitative data
What 4 patterns did Durkeim find?
- Suicide rates remained constant over time
- When suicide rates changed, this was because of coinciding events eg economic depression
- Different societies have different rates
- Rates varied considerably between social groups.
What were the 4 types of suicide according to Durkeim?
Egotistic suicide
Altruistic suicide
Anomic suicide
Fatalistic suicide
what is Egotistic suicide?
Caused by too little integration.
Lack of social ties
What is Altruistic suicide?
Caused by too much social integration
What is Anomic suicide?
Caused to little moral integration.
Where societies norms become unclear
What is Fatalistic suicide?
Caused by to much moral integration.
The individual can do nothing to change their current situation.
What is moral regulation?
Extent to which the individuals actions and desires are kept in check with the norms and societies.
What 3 things did durkheim find?
Suicide was higher in Protestant countries than catholic countries
Rise and fall of suicide rates appeared to be related to social factors
Variation in suicide rates betwen different members of society eg the unmarried and childless
Where did Durkheim collect his evidence?
Several European countries
What do Interpretativists believe/
People act in terms of meanings
What does Douglas argue about suicide stats?
They are as a result of negotiated meanings
What does Douglas reject?
Durkheim’s classification method arguing its too deterministic - fails to recognise the meaing
What does Douglas argue about suicide itself?
Its a social construction
What approach does Atkinson take?
Ethnomethodological
What does Atkinson argue Stats are?
stats are the products of opinions of those who produce them
What does Negotiated meanings mean/
family and friends might influence the coroners verdict
What does Atkinson say coroners have?
A common sense theory
What do coroners look for according to Atkinson
primary and secondary cues
What are primary cues?
suicide notes
place and circumstance of death
what are secondary cues?
life history of mental illness.
