Download Chapter 7

Deviance 10e
Alex Thio
Chapter Seven:
SUICIDE
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Introduction
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Myth: depression is the major cause of
suicide
Myth: suicide bombers are generally
psychotic, or at least irrational, poor and
uneducated
Every year about 31,000 Americans
commit suicide
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Varieties of Suicidal Experience
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3 types of suicidal experiences:
some threaten suicide; 40% attempted to
kill themselves in the past; many use the
attempt as a means of achieving some
objective in life – and don’t want to die
suicide attempters are ambiguous in their
intent; most do NOT succeed
2/3 who commit suicide had prior attempt
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Groups With Higher Suicide Rates
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Stats are not always reliable
Traditionally, suicide rates are higher in urban
areas
Today, suicide rates are higher in rural areas
The suicide rate is higher among whites than
blacks in the U.S.
Protestants have higher suicide rates than
Catholics, who in turn have higher rates than
Jews
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Groups With Higher Suicide Rates
– cont.
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Men are more likely to kill themselves
than women
Attempted suicide rates are higher
among women than men
Men are more likely to use lethal
instruments such as firearms
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Groups With Higher Suicide Rates
– cont.
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Divorced persons have the highest
suicide rate, married the lowest rate, and
single individuals are intermediate
U.S. suicide rates tends to rise with
increasing age
Findings on the relationship between
social class and suicide are contradictory
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
A Social Profile of Suicide Bombers
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Relatively well-off; middle class; better
educated than their countrymen
Mostly young, male and single, and see
themselves as martyrs
Suicide attacks have been common
throughout history
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Situational Factors in Suicide
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Teenagers today are much more likely than in
past to kill themselves
Going to college is associated with higher
suicide rates
Suicide in prison is relatively common
People with fatal diseases have higher rates of
suicide; this holds true for AIDS
Mass media has an influence on suicide –
highly publicized suicides tend to result in
national suicide rates increasing
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Global Perspective on Suicide
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Suicide rates are higher in industrialized
countries
In Western countries, suicide rates peak
in the spring and bottom out in winter
Suicide occurs more often in the
beginning of the week and very rarely on
weekends
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Social Responses to Suicide
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Suicide rates are related to how a society
responds to it
When a loved one commits suicide,
survivors tend to feel guilty
Patients have the right to refuse lifesustaining treatment (living will)
Several individuals and organizations try
to prevent suicide
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Figure 7.1 Age and Suicide
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Sociological Theories of Suicide
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To sociologists, causes of suicide do not
reside within the individual but rather
within the group to whom the individual
belongs and the individual’s interaction
with agents of social institutions.
Durkheimian theory:
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social integration: involves persons
attaching themselves to groups
social regulation: involves individuals being
coercively regulated by a group
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Figure 7.2 Durkheim’s Theory
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Sociological Theories of Suicide –
cont.
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Henry and Short theory: interprets
suicide as an act of aggression directed
toward oneself that results from three
factors – sociological, psychological and
economic
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Sociological Theories of Suicide –
cont.
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Phenomenological theories:
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Theory of suicidal meanings: individuals
impute specific meanings to their
prospective suicidal acts
Theory of suicide process: interprets the
social meanings of suicide as a social
prohibition against suicide so that the
suicidal person must overcome the
prohibition before taking his or her own life
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010