Suicide revision - sociology A2 - who/what to include in a suicide essay

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Suicide – Section 5
Revision – things I need to know for this section

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Interpretivists approach to suicide
 interpretivists study suicide in a NON-SCIENTIFIC manner.
 interpretivists look to try and understand WHY people commit
suicide, so they reject the use of statistics.
 interpretivists like QUALITATIVE RESEARCH – so using
interviews and words, feelings, and emotions.
 they reject that sociology is a science as they believe HUMANS
ARE UNPREDICTABLE.

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Interpretivists approach to suicide
 Douglas (an interpretivists) argued that suicide statistics are based on the
coroners decisions as to whether they decide If the death is suicide or not, so
the coroners verdict is based on interpretation. – (in some religions such as
protestant Catholics it is seen as a sin to commit suicide so the coroner may
say it wasn’t suicide as it looks bad)
 Douglas's problem with official statistics is that the decision of suicide is
taken by the coroner and influenced by other social actions, so it may be
BIAS.
 he feels that qualitative data is preferable in the study of suicide as we must
classify death according to its actual meaning for the deceased.
 So we must use qualitative data and sources to produce case studies based
on suicide notes and diaries – also in depth interviews with the suicides
friends and family so build up a typology of suicidal meanings.

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 Douglas looks at 3 stages as clues to why the person committed
suicide:
1. stage 1 : how do we give meaning to the act of suicide:
 analysis of suicide notes
 examination of diaries
 interviews with close family and friends
 Analyzing recent events
Stage 2: look for patterns and trends:
 revenge suicide
 escape suicide
 repentance sucide
 Self punishment suicide
Interpretivists approach to suicide
3. Stage 3: link these patterns to the
wider belief of the culture
 some cultures feel that it is perfectly
acceptable, and even heroic to
commit suicide
e.g. suicide bombers

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 Baechler developed Douglas's approach and looks at what solutions
came out of people committing suicide
 Basically Baechler is looking to see what motivates people to commit
suicide
1. escapist suicide: this type of suicide happens when someone
wants to escape an unbearable situation
2. aggressive suicides: this type of suicide aims to hurt or harm
somebody else. (perhaps to bring guilt to a person)
3. oblative suicides: this type of suicide is used to gain something
which is desired e.g. going to heaven
4. ludic suicides: this type of suicide is done for the risk and
excitement it brings out
Interpretivists approach to suicide
Baechler focuses on person reasons for
committing suicide as all of them are
PERSONAL ISSUES.

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 Weakness’s of Douglas and Baechler’s
research
 Douglas and Baechler imply that suicide
statistics can never be reliable since its
always a matter of judgement whether a
death is a suicide, but at other times he
suggests that causes of suicide can be
found; it’s difficult to see how this can be
true if its impossible to be certain whether
an act is a suicide. – so he contradicts
himself
 Taylor points out that individual cases often
fit a number of categories, depending on the
interpretation the researcher makes of the
victim’s motives, and there is no reason to
believe that these interpretations are any
more reliable than suicide statistics.
Interpretivism: Evaluation of
Douglas and Baechler’s research
Strengths of Douglas &
Baechler’s research:
 They look into WHY people
commit suicide and outside
social explanations
 they look at people
individually and take their
feelings and motives into
account rather than relying on
perhaps wrong statistics.

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 Positivists say that sociology is a SCIENCE
 They believe that human behavior is predictable
 They use QUANTITATIVE data such as questionnaires and
official statistics where they look for trends and patterns in
suicide rates
Positivists approach to suicide

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 Durkheim is a positivist and argued and wanted to prove that
our actions are influenced by wider social factors that we have
no control over. ( that human behavior can be predicted)
 He used the comparative method where he compared official
statistics using different countries.
 He discovered that suicide varies according to: religion, family
size, political/national crises, economic conditions, occupational
groups, the divorce rate.
Positivists approach to suicide

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 He said there were 2 SOCIAL FACTORS which determined
suicide rates which are:-
1. Social integration: the individuals commitment to norms,
values, beliefs.
2. Moral regulation- societal/group control over individual
desires.
 A Balance of both integration and regulation is good
 But Any IMBALANCE increases suicide.
Positivists approach to suicide

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 Durkheim also said that there are 4 TYPES OF SUICIDE
1. Lack of integration = Egoistic (results from lack of social integration.
Durkheim believed that people who commit suicide do not feel a strong
sense of community)
2. Over integration = Altruistic (This type of suicide occurs when
individuals and the group are too close and intimate.)
3. Lack of regulation =Anomic (This type of suicide is due to certain
breakdown of social balance, such as, suicide after bankruptcy or after
winning a lottery. In other words, anomic suicide takes place in a situation
which has cropped up suddenly.)
4. Over regulation = Fatalistic (This type of suicide is due to
overregulation of the individual e.g. someone in prison committing
suicide)
Positivists approach to suicide

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 They studied suicide statistics for new
Zeeland and found them useful as they
provide an individuals occupation, class and
birth & death rates.
Positivists approach to suicide

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Positivism : Evaluation of Durkheim
and Gibbs & Potterfield’s research
 PROBLEMS WITH THEIR
RESEARCH:
 Official statistics may not be valid as it’s the
coroners decision whether to deem
someone's death as suicide or not – they may
be wrong or bias if they are catholic for
example where suicide is a sin.
 Douglas critics Durkheim's work as he
suggests that official statistics are not simply
collected but are socially constructed – so did
not give enough consideration to how official
statistics on suicide are collected; as They
contain gross inaccuracies. The central
problems (like all official statistics) center
around the issue of VALIDITY.
 As regards validity, it is likely that there is an
UNDER-RECORDING OF THE TRUE RATE
OF SUICIDE.
 WHY THEIR RESEARCH IS
GOOD:
 you are being shown official
numbers and stats so it has a clear
picture (through trends and
patterns).