The chapter "Suicide as a Social Phenomenon" from Emil Durkheim's book 'Suicide' is mainly layed out so that the way to explain the fixed number of suicides per year for each society is, by social sociological terms, by the value structure of society. Throughout the episode, Durkheim makes conflicting claims and refutes them.
Durkheim argues that although the phenomenon of suicide
appears to be an individual act influenced by personal circumstances, this is
not the case. The number of suicides in society is more stable than mortality
rates. Suicides are also a small minority scattered in society without any
interconnections. Despite the turnover of people in society (birth and death),
The suicide rate remains constant as long as society does not change. It follows
that suicide is not a personal but social phenomenon that depends on the value
structure of society and according to Durkheim on the level the level of
cohesion in it. These variables (values and cohesion) explain the differences
between societies and the uniformity within society, and the different suicide
rates in each society.
Durkheim argues that the joint actions of individuals create a
new kind of existence. Individual consciousness merges into a collective
consciousness different from that of a specific individual. Society is not
qualitatively identical to the sum of its parts, but their combination is
different from the private experience. A detailed analysis of different states
(states of consciousness) cannot explain how beliefs and customs are formed
(Durkheim argues that they do not develop as a result of experience). Example;
Monotheistic belief. This is true of all other areas like law and moral
institutions and any other aspect of collective life. Society is made up of
individuals, but they have a common collective consciousness. that works
towards them from the outside and influences the most intimate details in life
- suicide. Society is 'bigger' than the person and precede him.
Durkheim gives the example of morality, and argued that man
is not particularly moral and it is society that influences him from the
outside to practice morality, according to its values, a collective conscience.
Society is a collective force stronger than the power of the individual.
Religion or social practice can exist independently of their individual expressions (society
does not).
According to Durkheim, every moral idea consists of egoism,
altruism, and some degree of anomie. Social life is based on the assumption
that the individual has a certain personality that he is willing to give up if
the community demands it. The three streams mentioned are found in every nation
and affect man. When one prevails over the other a person tends to commit
suicide. The stronger the current, the stronger its impact on the act of
suicide. The power of the current depends on three factors: -The nature of the
individuals that make up the company. The nature of the social organization. -
Crises that affect the functioning of collective life without changing the
structure. Attributes play a role, can affect, but only if they are present in
all individuals, that is general.
Durkheim argues that the social conditions on which the
number of suicides depends are the only ones that can change. This is why the
number of suicides remains stable, as long as society does not change. Society
shapes the individual according to its own image. Therefore collective power
pushes people to end their lives.
To sum up suicide according to Durkheim is a result of
society's values and cohesion. The difference between companies is in the
number of suicides. Society is not prone to change and therefore the number of
suicides remains constant.
Additional article summaries by Emile Durkheim:
"The Genesis of the Notion of the Totemic Principle or Mana" – summary and review" - part 1 -2 -3What is Social Fact?
Division of Labor in Society
Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Moral Education
Types of Suicide according to Emile Durkheim
Anomie according to Durkheim
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