AQA A2 Sociology Unit 4 - Crime and Deviance - Suicide

Functionalist Perspective - Durkhiem - Suicide and their relationships to society

• Social groups - married or single ,
• Religion - Catholic or Protestant , 
• Country - Stigma, 
• Urban v Rural 

Suicide can't be based on personal acts only as there are levels of consistency

Determining factors effecting suicide

• Social Intergration - bindings to groups and society Moral Regulation - Control of others

Social factors linked to suicide

• Location - higher in Urban
• Family status - suicide higher in those without children
• Marital status - Higher in single or divorced
• Religion - Protestants = suicide as more individualistic 

Durkhiems 4 types of suicide

• Altruistic - Excessively intergrated - no individualism
• Egoisitc - Insufficiently intergrated - no bond with society
• Anomic - Insufficient regulation - behavioural guidelines are unclear
• Fatalism - Excessively regulated - controlled by moral behaviour 

Criticism 

• Based on official statistics - interpretivists = socially contructed

Interpretivists View of suicide

Douglas - Meanings of Suicide

• Durkhiems causes of suicide determine whether it's classed as suicide
• Social meaning - catholics = suicide as shameful, it's less likely to be classed as suicide
• Intergration - More likely to cover up their suicide as not to hurt loved ones

Meanings of Suicide

• Transformation of self - relief from the world - terminally ill
• Transformation of self - telling others how you feel
• Sympathy - cry for help 
• Gainning revenge - guilt or blame others

Evaluations 

• Rates of suicide have meanings - japan seen as honourable
• Provides an alternative to Durkhiems theory

Atkinson's Coroners report 

• Suicide notes - show intent not faked
• Mode of death - hanging, drowning or overdose
• Location - Cry for help = to be found, Others = not to be found
• History - debt, failure, medical condition

Conclusion

• No consistency with verdicts
• Suicide stats may be socially constructed 

Taylor et al 

• Statistics are unreliable as socially constructed 
• Can identity the causes of suicide
• People under trains = London underground suicides

Categories of Suicides

• Certainity - life is over and no-one can help
• Uncertainity - Cry for help, unsure about life

Conclusion 

• Helps explains para-suicides and the degree of certainty behind suicides
• Doesn't explain wider social factors (Durkhiems)