Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 in Epinal France, near the German border, which became occupied with German troops when he was twelve years old (Thompson 2002:2). Growing up in this environment as a young Jewish boy offers potential insight into why Durkheim might have become so invested in the social sciences later in his life EXPLAIN (Thompson 2002:2). Dr. Kenneth Thompson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University UK, remarks how during his studies Durkheim was introduced to empirical research and the philosophy of science by teachers such as Foustel de Coulanges and Émile Boutroux (2002:2). EXPLAIN
In his famous work, On Suicide, Durkheim aimed to prove sociology’s status as a science by taking the extremely individualistic act of suicide and explaining it using sociology (Thompson 2002:87). To do this, Durkheim used statistics of suicide rates in different countries to show that suicide was due to social imbalance not the individual (Thompson 2002:87 & Durkheim YEAR:19). It is, however, important to acknowledge that Durkheim was not attempting to give insight into why individuals are led to suicide but rather to understand the stability and predictability of suicide rates in various countries (Hughes, Martin, Sharrock 1995:178).
Durkheim defined suicide as “all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result” (Thompson 2002:87). This definition has come under much scrutiny as Durkheim is often criticized for this reductionist view of suicide which fails to examine psychological factors and instead focuses only on the social conditions in which the individual was living in (Farganis 1993:73).
Author James Farganis of Vassar College writes how Durkheim’s view of society was similar to that of a human body in that each organ performs a specific and important function which aids in keeping the body alive and functioning properly (1993:73). In the same way, society is built of many members with varying specializations which are all vital in keeping the society running as it should.
Durkheim presented four types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic. To understand these types of suicide, Durkheim presented three arguments stating that suicide is inversely related to the degree of integration of religious society, of domestic society, and of political society and therefore concludes that suicide inversely relates to the how unified an individual is with all social groups (Farganis 1993:76).
The first type of suicide was egoistic suicide which Durkheim defined as “the special type of suicide springing from excessive individualism” (Farganis 1993:76). He believed that when a society displays severe control over its citizens, individuals feel a sense of purpose and connectedness and are therefore less likely to end their life (Durkheim YEAR:168). But, as Durkheim remarks, it is difficult and therefore unlikely for a society to maintain such close control of its members, so individuals are free to choose death (Fargansis 1993:76). Conversely, too much individualism, which he believed to be created by society, inevitably leads to weak social bonds and disproportionate freedom (SOURCE). Due to the fact that humans are social beings, when an individual is too disconnected from society their life can become meaningless which can lead to suicide (SOURCE).
To further demonstrate the nature of egoistic suicide, Durkheim gave several examples. Firstly, different religions had different rates of suicide. For example, those who were Protestant were less integrated to their faith meaning they had the most individual freedom and were therefore more likely to die by suicide than those who were Catholic (SOURCE). Secondly, those who were more highly educated were more likely to die from suicide which Durkheim thought was because they think hard, ask questions, are less religious, and tend to be skeptical, all of which can lead to inner turmoil and therefore suicide (SOURCE). Finally, individuals who are married with a family are less likely to die by suicide than those who are single with no family. Durkheim asserted that this was because the latter individual was less attached to a group (i.e. family) and in turn was less attached to life (SOURCE).
Second = Altruistic
The third form of suicide was anomic suicide. This was defined as “DEFINE” (SOURCE). This type of suicide was said to be caused when individuals desired too much and were therefore never satisfied (source). Durkheim concluded that because individuals are inept at regulating out desires, society does it for us (SOURCE). Therefore, when society fails to limit its members it allows too much freedom and causes unhappiness. In this scenario, there is never enough to fulfill our desires. There is an “insatiable and bottomless abyss” which causes us to be dissatisfied with our past and consequently our present (SOURCE).