 Durkheim’s analysis of the relationship between suicide rates and social relations at the end of the nineteenth century is a classic and still highly informative example of the sociological perspective at work. THE ENLIGHTENING PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY

 Some categories of people (men, Christians, the unmarried) have higher rates of suicide than others (women, Jews, the married).  Why? Because people who are weakly integrated into social groups are more likely to take their own lives. DURKHEIM ’ S FINDINGS

DURKHEIM’S U-CURVE

At the other extreme, altruistic suicide occurs in very high solidarity contexts, where norms tightly govern behaviour. At one extreme, anomic suicide occurs in very low solidarity settings. As the level of social solidarity increases, the suicide rate declines. Then, beyond a certain point, it begins to rise again. DURKHEIM’S U-CURVE

Social forces exist as a distinct level of reality: IMPLICATIONS OF DURKHEIM ’ S ANALYSIS OF SUICIDE  They are external to individuals.  They constrain individual behaviour.

 Youth suicide, rare in Durkheim’s time, has been rising for almost half a century in Canada.  Suicide rates for men remain considerably higher than those for women. SUICIDE IN CANADA TODAY

SUICIDE BY AGE AND SEX