Suicide Flashcards
What does Durkhiem argue suicide is a product of? (Suicide crime)
External forces
Who did Durkheim compared for his case study? (Suicide crime)
Countries across Europe
What did Durkheim set out too bad with his case study? (Suicide crime)
A cause and effect formula
What methods did Durkheim use in his case study? (Suicide crime)
Comparative method and official statistics
How is suicide defined? (Suicide crime)
Intentional loss of life
How did Taylor categorise suicide? (Suicide crime)
Suicide gesture, clear-cut suicide and para-suicide
Why did Durkheim use suicide as a case study? (Suicide crime)
To help establish sociology as a science, explaining phenomenons no other discipline could
What did Durkheim find? (Suicide crime)
Suicide rate vary between countries (remain constant within) and also vary between groups
From his findings, why was Durkheim sure that external forces were in play? (Suicide crime)
Findings were stable, if external forces weren’t there then findings would be more scattered
How did Durkheim conclude the reasons for suicide were? (Suicide crime)
Lack/over integration or regulation
What term is given to lack of integration and give an example? (Suicide crime)
Egoistic e.g suicide of a divorced individual
What term is given to over integration and give an example? (Suicide crime)
Altruistic e.g terrorist suicide bombers
What term is given to lack of regulation and give an example? (Suicide crime)
Anomic e.g lottery winners (rapid change)
What term is given to over integration and give an example? (Suicide crime)
Fatalistic e.g prisoners or slaves
What does Halbwachs (1930) claim? (Suicide crime)
Durkheim overemphasises the influence religion has on suicide - living in a rural/urban area has more of an influence
What do interpretivists focus on when investigating suicide? (Suicide crime)
Meanings and motivations
What do interpretivists suggest about sociology being established as a science? (Suicide crime)
It isn’t and it should never try to be
What do they believe about the statistics of suicide rates? (Suicide crime)
Social constructions
What does Bachelor argue is the motivation for suicide? (Suicide crime)
1) escapist suicide
2) aggressive suicide
3) oblative suicide
4) ludic suicide
What is confusing about Bachelors findings? (Suicide crime)
By attempting to uncover the meanings and motivations (interpretivists) she actually categories them, taking a positivist approach
What did Douglas (1967) state? (Suicide crime)
Each act of suicide is unique but can only be understood by the interpretations of others (invalid and unreliable)
How does religion influence coroners? (Suicide crime)
Catholics see suicide as a sin, the coroner is more likely to label it as accidental death to avoid trouble for the family
What did Atkins find? (Suicide crime)
Coroners interpret evidence in an inconsistent way
What 4 pieces of evidence does Atkins mention? (Suicide crime)
- suicide notes
- mode of death
- location of death
- medical records
What is the quote by Sachs? (Suicide crime)
“In terms of history of sociology, nothing is more tragic than that of Durkheim’s suicide being conceived as a model of investigation”
How does Taylor combine interpretivist and positivist methodology? (Suicide crime)
Coroners build up a victim biography rather than collecting actual data, but it’s naïve to suggest external forces do not contribute
What does Durkhiem argue about suicide statistics? (Suicide crime)
Social fact
