Introduction
Emile Durkheim is one of the most important figures in early sociology. He has laid the bedrock for how researchers approach sociology as a science. His book Suicide: A Study in Sociology is his way of proving his methodology works. His work has influenced so many people and how they think. It has influenced governmental policies and political movements. Does his book still hold up? What does it say about our society? Does Durkheim's argument still hold up? Is there anything we can still get out of his writings?
The 3 Types
Durkheim writes that there are three main types of suicide: Egoistic, Altruistic and Anomic suicide(leaving out Fatalistic suicide as in his book is left as a footnote and he barely talks about it and he says himself. “But it has so little contemporary importance and examples are so hard to find aside from the cases just mentioned that it seems useless to dwell upon it.” Durkheim, E. (1951) p.239). He argues that these are all socially caused and all of them appear in different societies at different rates. He makes the point that it is an imbalance of integration and regulation within a society, but what do these terms mean?
Integration is (according to the Oxford Dictionary) “bring (people or groups with particular characteristics or needs) into equal participation in or membership of a social group or institution.” Durkheim's specific use of the word shows how he views the world. He sees how allowing some groups to be allowed to combine with others must be somewhat conservative to allow for a healthy society.
Regulation is “meant to restrain individual passions, it must come from a power which dominates individuals; but this power must also be obeyed through respect, not fear.” Durkheim, E. (1951) p.212
These two ideas show how he sees how society affects suicide. Having these things out of balance causes people to do rash decisions. Even if the reason may be personal, the person is directly affected by the society that living in.
Egoistic Suicide
According to Durkheim egoistic suicide is when someone commits suicide because they do not fit in all to the society. This can occur in many ways, the way the Durkheim example is unmarried men, some other examples are gay people in homophobic societies. The ego of the person is damaged so they won't see any other path forward to being in the ingroup of the society. This type of suicide sits at the imbalance of integration having too little, not letting everyone fully integrate into it.
Altruistic Suicide
On the other side of the graduate, Altruistic suicide is where a society integrates everyone and the person doesn't see their place in society. Thay as a result they see themselves as dead weight. For example, military society makes people think of the “greater good” and may cause some people who fail to help the collective effort to commit suicide. This is the result of a high level of integration. It is the exact reverse of egoistic suicide. This shows the differing reasons for suicide, as an egoist suicidal person would say “There is no point in living anymore no one likes me” On the other side altruistic suicidal person would say “The world would be better for my death.”
Anomic Suicide
The last type of suicide is completely different from the other two as anomic suicide is about how the lack of regulation from society causes the person to not know what to do in their life. With the lack of drive and help society should have them give up. Apathy causes them to suicide. One of the criticisms of Durkheim is that he barely mentions the opposite of anomic suicide which is Fatalistic suicide which is becoming more recognized by sociogists.
Conclusion
Durkhim’s theory of the social causes for suicide is well thought out for his time in 1951 and gave us a better understanding of why people commit suicide. He creates the three types of categorizing a suicide from a sociological perspective. Those being egoist (lack of integration), altruist(too much integration) and anomic (lack of regulation).as well as giving examples of all of them and how they can appear in society. As suicide is a terrible thing that should be prevented having a better understanding of it can help governmental figures better help us to a better society and the lack of help that plages some countries.
Biblyogerfy
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203994320