Social Deviance
Chapter 10: Suicide
Chapter Goals
:Understand the dynamics of suicide as deviance Know the extent and types of suicide Be able to describe sociological theories of suicide Understand aspects of physician assisted suicide
Suicidal Behavior
Suicide is the intentional and deliberate destruction of one's own life. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for persons 15-24 years of age. More than a quarter of all suicides end personal histories of heavy alcohol use or follow intensive drinking bouts. Some countries have historically approved suicide, consider Japan practices of Hara-kiri. Suicide attempts may number as many as 20 times the total number of successful suicides. Women attempt suicide more frequently than men; however, men are more successful.
Suicide Rates
Problems with providing statistics on suicide: it is underreported Suicide is the intentional and deliberate destruction of one's own life. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for persons 15-24 years of age. More than a quarter of all suicides end personal histories of heavy alcohol use or follow intensive drinking bouts. Some countries have historically approved suicide, consider Japan practices of Hara- kiri. Suicide attempts may number as many as 20 times the total number of successful suicides. Women attempt suicide more frequently than men; however, men are more successful. Suicide is the intentional and deliberate destruction of one's own life. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for persons 15-24 years of age. More than a quarter of all suicides end personal histories of heavy alcohol use or follow intensive drinking bouts. Some countries have historically approved suicide, consider Japan practices of Hara-kiri. Suicide attempts may number as many as 20 times the total number of successful suicides. Women attempt suicide more frequently than men; however, men are more successful.
Theories of Suicide
Durkheim regarded suicide as a result of the degree of social interaction and regulation in a society. Suicide is not an individual phenomenon, but a consequence of social organization and structure. Durkheim's discussed three forms of suicide. Egoistic: low social bonds Altruistic: high social bonds Anomic: deregulation of social bonds Status Frustration: According to Henry and Short's theory, suicides direct aggression generated by status frustrations against themselves. Some frustration, often over failure to maintain a constant or rising position in a status hierarchy relative to others, arouses aggression, and suicide expresses this aggression through an attack on oneself. Community Migration Stack found that areas with high rates of interstate immigration also post correspondingly high suicide rates. The Suicide Process Ringel identified three principal components of a predictable suicide syndrome a. Constricting or narrowing alternatives, leaving problems with an all-consuming image and no way out except suicide; b. A certain aggressive response directed toward oneself, perhaps leading to self- blame for an unfortunate accident or some other trauma in one's life; c. Indulgence in suicidal fantasies that construct and mentally play out suicidal acts. Suicide, Mental Disorders, and Hopelessness: Most suicides follow rational planning and careful execution with no more evidence