Anomic Suicide
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A seminal study examining suicide from a sociological perspective is found in Emile DurkheimÆs (1951) Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Durkheim outlines a number of sociological theories related to suicide in this work. One of DurkheimÆs theories that is most relevant to the sociological basis of suicide revolves around the social integration or disengagement of individuals in society. Durkheim theorized that a major cause of suicide stems from the individualÆs lack of bonding with others. In Moral Education (1961) Durkheim maintains that there are several elements of morality related to organic solidarity: discipline, attachment to social groups, and autonomy or self-determination, (96). Discipline and attachment to social groups are linked largely because duty is a morality insofar as it commands and is conceived of as an authority which must be disobeyed because and only because it is authority.Society itself, according to Durkheim, imposes rules upon men that limits our natural inclinations and imposes organic solidarity. This established morality as an ôimperative lawö that demands complete obedience and on the other hand represents a splendid ôidealö to which man spontaneously aspires, (Durkheim 1961, 96). Durkheim believed that each human being also has a right to personal autonomy and to the exercise of free will. In essence, Durkheim (1961) suggests that the conflict supposed to exist between freedom and dete
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Soviet government in Russia, 1990, the suicide rate was registered 26.4 people per 100,000, (Webster 2003, 220). Surely the dramatic increase is due sociological causes, since social and economic upheaval have been the norm in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Many studies exist in the literature that correlate the social and economic upheaval in Russia over the past decade with increasing suicide rates. Adult mortality has been shown to have significantly increased in Russia during both the 1991 and 1998 economic upheavals, (Men et al., 2003, 964). Men (et al., 2003) reports that mortality has increased in Russia since 1991, and that ôFluctuations in mortality seem to correlate strongly with underlying economic and societal factors,ö (Men et al., 2003, 964). In 1994, when Russian suicide rates peaked at 42.1 suicides per 100,000 people, the Russian economy was in collapse and societal regulatory mechanisms were few in a changing and turbulent period, (Webster 2003).
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) study in 2002, the annual suicide death rate is comparable to combined figures for war and homicide, making suicide ôthe largest cause of preventable death in the world,ö (Webster 2003, 220). When s
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Soviet Union, Anomic Fatalistic, People Durkheim, Health Organization, Recalling Durkheim, Moral Education, Suicide Durkheim, Eckersley Dear, Society Durkheim, Mara Orru, suicide rates, russian society, society durkheim, soviet union, suicide rate, norms values, anomic suicide, collapse soviet union, collapse soviet, webster 2003, social economic, et al 2003, ny free press, webster 2003 220, york ny free,
Approximate Word count = 2886
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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