Durkheim's Study Of Suicide
In Emile Durkheim's (1997) book Suicide, he discusses both the causes of and the reasons for suicide. He also addresses the components of different sociological theories that show that what comes from within a person matters equally with their outside environment when it comes to the issues they face during their lives. Strong evidence is provides that peer pressure and the lack of a strong system of support can affect the suicide rates that are seen in a population (Pope & Danigelis, 1981; Irzik & Meyer, 1987). That is a very important issue to consider, because many researchers simply want to blame a person's genetic makeup or surroundings for suicide, instead of considering that there might be more than one reason for a person to have suicidal thoughts or actions. By making sure it is understood that there is more than one reason or cause for suicide…...

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References

Dohrenwend, B.P. (1959). "Egoism, Altruism, Anomie, and Fatalism: A Conceptual Analysis of Durkheim's Types," American Sociological Review, 24(4).

Durkheim, E. (1997). Suicide. New York: Free Press.

Freedman, D.A. (2002). The Ecological Fallacy. University of California.

Giddons, A., Duneier, M., & Appelbaum, R.P. (2005). Introduction to Sociology, 5th ed. New York: W.W.Norton & Co.

From the above description, it is clear that mechanical solidarity unites members of a society through personal bonds or social cohesion, which was particular to pre-industrial societies. This mechanical solidarity occurred, when all members of a society performed the same or nearly the same tasks as all others in a society. On the other hand, in the organic solidarity, as societies begin to modernize, they begin to industrialize and labor becomes increasingly specialized.

In modern, industrial societies, labor is tremendously divided. Individuals no longer perform the same tasks, have the same interests, nor necessarily share the same perspectives on life. Durkheim explains that this does not cause a society to fail or disintegrate; rather the organic solidarity is formed. Like the organs within an animal, individuals perform certain specific functions, but rely on the well-being and successful performance of other individuals. If one organ fails, the rest of them fail as…...

This argument brings Durkheim's theory into modern society.
Durkheim's Suicide Theory made a lot of sense in the early 1900s. Over the years, many changes in society have occurred, making some of his work appear outdated. However, Pescosolido's and Georgianna's "network" theory expands Durkheim's theory for modern times. Durkheim expected the circumstances of his argument to change, so it makes sense that modern sociologists should revisit and reapply his theory. There are more and more societies and religions, and therefore their inclusion is necessary to the acceptance of Durkheim's theory today.

Durkheim's theory seems to be flawed in some ways, some of his concepts are very helpful in trying to understand the complex origins of suicidal behavior. Durkheim's dismissal of mental illness as a key determinant of suicidal behavior weakens his thesis as a whole. However, his conceptualization of anomic, egoistic and altruistic suicide helps us to understand modern trends in…...

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References

Cheng, ATA (1995). Mental illness and suicide: A case-control study in east Taiwan. Archives of General Psychiatry 52, 594-603.

Dhossche, Dirk. (January, 2003). Does Durkheim's Social Theory of Suicide Apply More to Assisted Suicide than Suicide? Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Durkheim, Emile. (1897-1997 reprint). Suicide. The Free Press.

Giddens, Anthony. Sociology. Second Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993.

Emile Durkheim on Social Solidarity
Durkheim is considered the first French academic sociologist and a significant part of the life of this philosopher was surrounded by his work and writing though he also participated a lot in the affairs of the French as a society. Though a respectable academic, he was still faced with various obstacles among them being the resistance and opposition from his colleagues as scholar who represented a discipline that held little relevance or legitimacy in the society of that time.

The center of argument for Durkheim was the insistence on the study of the society as a social phenomena or "sui generis" and argued for the shunning of the reductionism and scientific approach to social life. He totally rejected the biological approaches to life study and even the psychological interpretation of social life and insisted on the determinants of the social problems of mankind to be the social…...

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References

Amity Institute of Higher Learning, (2010). Durkheim - Crime as a Normal, rather than

Pathological Phenomenon. Retrieved September 5, 2011 from  http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Revision:Durkheim_-_Crime_as_a_Normal,_rather_than_Pathological_Phenomenon 

Bolender Initiative, (2011). Emile Durkheim 1858-1917. Retrieved September 5, 2011 from http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/emile-durkheim-1858-1917

Timothy Shortel, (2006). Durkheim's Sociology: On Social Solidarity. Retrieved September 5,

Instead of losing its importance, sociology of religion should become more essential for study in sociology curriculum. It should be more than the anthropology and theology students who are asking such questions as, "What is the future of religion in society? Despite the growing complexity of society and the increase in stress and related emotional problems, why is there a decrease in formal religion attendance? Does modernity secularize as Durkheim noted? Can there be a complete break between "secularization" and "religiosity?" Where, how, and why can religion grow and survive in a highly technical world? What social forces and influences explain different religious outcomes? What impact does religion have in a country, as the United States, which is undergoing a major demographic change in cultures? What place does religion play in an increasing globalized world?

Apparently, however, Luckmann's concern for the study of sociology of religion is not coming to fruition.…...

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References

Christiano, K., Swatos, W. Jr., and Kivisto, P. Sociology of Religion:

Contemporary Developments. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 2002

Cnaan, R.A. Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments: Lanham, MD:

AltaMira Press, 2002

Emile Durkheim
Sociology is an extremely important field of study that has dramatically changed the world in which we live. Emile Durkheim has played a major role in shaping sociology and its theories. The purpose of this discussion is to provide an overview of the theorist and his work. The discussion will focus on the work and an evaluation of the validity of the theory.

The Theorist book entitled Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917: A Collection of Essays, with Translations and a ibliography describes the socialist and his theories. Durkheim was born April 13, 1958 in epinal, France. Epinal is located in the Vosges region of Vosges. (Durkheim, emile) Thought and intellectual capabilities came to him easily as his ancestors were rabbinical scholars; in fact, Emile was supposed to become a Rabbi and continue this tradition. (Durkheim, emile)

There is very little known about his parents; the book reports that he rarely spoke about his…...

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Bibliography (K W.H., Ed.). Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22831185 

Durkheim, E. (1953). Sociology and Philosophy (Pocock, D.F., Trans.). New York: Free Press.  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5634202 

Durkheim, E., & Fauconnet, P. (1961). Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education (E. K. Wilson, Ed.) (Schnurer, H., & K., E.W., Trans.). New York: Free Press.

herever modern capitalism has begun its work of increasing the productivity of human labor by increasing its intensity, it has encountered the immensely stubborn resistance of this leading trait of pre-capitalistic labor" (eber, 1908).
Even if Marx and eber were in a state of disagreement over the importance of ideals or material realities in propelling the injustices of capitalism, the idea that ideas could change the world, coupled with Freud's psychological analysis of the inevitability of estrangement from one's original object of affection and Marx's economic analysis has proved attractive to critical theory and its own synthesized critique of capitalism. hat unites all three theorists is their generally pessimistic reading of the human being produced by modern life. To exist in society, a person must repress his or her innate sexual impulses and redirect them onto acceptable objects of affection like money. A person must sublimate his or her desire…...

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Works Cited

Coser, Lewis. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context.

2nd Ed., Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977: 132-36.

Excerpt 1 May 2007 at http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Durkheim/DURKW2.htmL

Chapter 4: Society." Chapter Outlines. Excerpt 1 May 2007 at   -- Outlines/Tenth%20Edition/chapter-04-Data%20File.dochttp://academic.kellogg.edu/severins/Chapter 

Theorist: Emile Durkheim
Emile Durkheim was a significant contributor to the field of Sociology. In fact, he is considered by many to be the father of Sociology. Durkheim was a proponent of functionalism in that he believed that the individual was not as important as the social structure in determining behavior. Further, functionalists believe that Sociology is a science (positivism) and that society is built "around a value consensus and social solidarity which is achieved by socialization and social control" (Bryant, 2012, p.1) Durkheim is also defined by his belief in control theory which stresses the belief that individual behavior is determined by outside social influences and thus controlled by society not the individual (Bryant, 2012, p.1). Thus, Durkheim is most closely aligned with my beliefs because of his beliefs in control theory, functionalism, and positivism.

Positivism holds that sociology is a science and as such is governed by the rules governing…...

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References

Bryant, L. (2012). Functionalism. Retrieved November 27, 2012 from History Learning

Site.

Website: www.historylearningsite.co.uk/functionalism.htm

Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide. (John A. Spaulding and George Simpson, Trans.). Illinois: The

Crime - Durkheim
hat does Emile Durkheim mean when he says crime is "normal"? In Durkheim's book, Division of Labor, according to author Stephen P. Turner, Durkheim said crime is inevitable and it is normal. hat was the justification for those statements? How did he come to make what today would seem an outrage?

In the larger context, Durkheim emphasized that law and morality are linked, and that what is considered "illegal" is generally believed to also be "immoral" in the opinion of the general public (Turner, 1993, pp. 71-72). He believed that if religion and morality had sufficient power and authority in society, if "socialization to society's values were perfect," and if existing religious and moral values were "perfectly known," all citizens would be behaving according to those values. Behaving properly would be what everyone did in that instance, and there would be "no challenge to the society's dominant values" --…...

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Works Cited

Harris, Irving Brooks. (1996). Children in Jeopardy: Can We Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Volume 1 of Yale Child Study Center Monograph Series on Child Psychiatry. New Haven,

CT: Yale University Press.

Parsons, Talcott. (1965). Theories of Society: Foundations of Modern Sociological Theory,

Concept

The author's concept is based upon an understanding of how the human psyche operates, in addition to how societies operate collectively. The human psyche desires satisfaction in several areas of life. This satisfaction is based not upon what is immediately available, but rather upon the desire itself, which could be unlimited. Individual satisfaction can be limited by external social factors, such as a universally accepted moral value, or the material state of other individuals.

Assumptions

The author assumes that individuals are dissatisfied when all their desires are not met. He also assumes a fundamental difference between human and animal desire and fulfillment. Human beings have the faculty of comparing their own state of well being with what could potentially be acquired. This in turn is based upon what is observed for other individuals. A discrepancy between one's own acquisitions and that of others could lead to unrealistic hope for future fulfillment and…...

Durkheim
One interesting way of looking at cultural, historical, and sociological trends is to extrapolate the individual into society and vice versa. Trends that occur within the individual -- birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, illness, old age, dementia, and death -- also occur within society, albeit at a different pace and severity. The pathology of an empire, for example, the oman Empire, can be compared to more modern interpretations of the stages and psychopathology of the individual, and not only trends examined and compared, but a clear relationship between the way ome declined from within, eventually to merge into something quite different, and ways of looking at individual self-destructive behaviors.

Emile Durkeim (1858-1917) was a French sociologist who many consider to be one of the founders of sociology and anthropology. He was instrumental in establishing sociology as a true, scientific discipline, and also studied education, crime, religion, suicide, and the manner humans acted…...

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REFERENCES

Alexander, Jeffrey and P. Smith, (2005), The Cambridge Companion to Durkeim,

Durkheim, E. And Fields, H. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

New York: The Free Press.

Durkheim, Emile and A. Giddens. (1972). Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings.

"
Nowadays, students have to choose between different academic disciplines: maybe one student prefers to be a psychologist rather than a physician. And then once the student has decided on psychology, he must choose, for example, to be a psychology major, as opposed to a physician major. Further more, there are even different categories within disciplines: social psychology, organizational psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology etc., each with its own concepts, terminology and methods. As in many other areas of activity, the division of labor in modern academia was a necessary phenomenon in the modern society given the economic and social conditions of the modern world, when the aim of education is to prepare students for different specializations and then, through working, interdependence and collaboration is necessary in order to reach the goal and obtain the wanted results. Durkheim's theory division of labor depicts the fact that in a society based on…...

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Bibliography

Clyde Hudgins, Clyde, Richards, Michael. G. Individual, Family and Community: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Contemporary Life. Introduction. http://www.accd.edu/sac/interdis/2370/intro.html

Comparative Political Systems. Lecture #2 - Theoretical Antecedents - Marx, Weber, & Durkheim. www.towson.edu/~roberts/339/A02marx.doc

Durkheim, Emile. The Division of Labor in Society Translated by George Simpson. New York: The Free Press, 1933

Grabb, Edward G. Theories of Social Inequality: Classical and Contemporary

Durkheim and the Study of Suicide
Emile Durkheim was primarily interested in how societies could remain coherent and integrated in present times when shared religious and ethnic background can no longer be relied on (Wikipedia 2005). Along with Herbert Spencer, he set the first scientific approaches to social phenomena that focused on social facts, instead of individual motivation. Durkheim suggested that social phenomena existed apart, independently and more objectively of individual actions and that these phenomena could be explained by other social facts other than society's, for example, climatic or ecological adaptation. This belief later came to be known as functionalism (Wikipedi).

His work, "The Division of Labor in Society," published in 1893, examined the different types of society, particularly the division of labor and how this division different between traditional and modern societies (Wikipedia 2005). He suggested a view that reversed the order of evolution among societies from a simple to…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Elwell F.W. (2003). Emile durkheim's sociology. Rogers State University.  http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Durkheim 

2. Gingrich, P. (1999). Social factors and suicide. University of Regina. http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/626199.htm

3. Hewlett School (2005). Durkheim's anomie. Crime and Deviance. http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/crime/anomie.htm

4. -- . Emile durkheim: the person. http://www.hewlett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/dukheim/drukper.htm

Another compelling component that confirms Dukheim's consensus is the fact that despite more women than men experiencing depression, the number of male suicides is consistently larger. (Ibid)
In Light of Suicide's Darkness In light of suicide's darkness, along with the contention that Durham's explanation of anomic and egoistic suicides is a valid reflection of social reality, several patterns of suicide that might be observed in contemporary American social life include:

Greater incidents of suicide may be probable in individuals who have experienced the loss of their family, as Durkheim noted that family life protects an individual from suicide.

Less incidents of suicide are anticipated overall (and among Jews in the U.S.) as the U.S. is currently engaged in war and Durkheim contended that:.".. peacetime suicide rates > wartime suicide rates among Protestants > Roman Catholics > Jews." (Pickering and alford 180).

Greater incidents of suicide may occur in work environments where individuals, albeit…...

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Works Cited

Blackman, Jerome S. 101 Defenses: How the Mind Shields Itself. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Durkheim, Emile. The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press,  http://www.bartleby.com/66/48/18048.html,1996 .

Pickering, W.S.F., and Geoffrey Walford, eds. Durkheim's Suicide: A Century of Research and Debate. London: Routledge, 2000.

Santayana, George. The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved 14 July 2006 at  http://www.bartleby.com/66/52/48152.html,1996 .

I am unhappy, why not kill myself?' An anomic suicide might say, 'the old gods have been shown to be false, so their prohibitions against suicide are also false, why not kill myself since I am unhappy?' ("Individual and society," Sociology at Hewett, excerpted from Coser, 1977:132-136).
These are the most common types of suicide, although Durkheim also gave some other examples of the social causes of suicide, such as altruistic suicide, which is the opposite of anomic suicide -- altruistic suicide is caused by too much social regulation, including as individuals who commit suicide to avoid dishonoring their family, or in extreme cases, because social conventions compel them to commit suicide like the Hindu practice of the ritual suicide of widows or Japanese harikiri, where samurai warriors kill themselves if their lord is dishonored ("Individual and society," Sociology at Hewett, excerpted from Coser, 1977:132-136).

orks Cited

Individual and society." Sociology at…...

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Works Cited

Individual and society." Sociology at Hewett. Excerpted from Coser, 1977:132-136. Retrieved 8 Oct 2007 at http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/CURRIC/soc/durkheim/durkw2.htm