• He concluded that the suicide rate was not the result of individuals using their free will and choosing to kill themselves
• Instead, he hypothesised that the suicide rate was a social fact
• Suicidal behaviour was shaped by the nature of the society to which the individual belonged
• Specifically, by its level of social integration and moral regulation
• He argued the main type of suicide, he called ‘egoistic’, was caused by too much individualism
• Society failed to integrate individuals into society
• He saw religion as playing a big role in whether individuals were sufficiently integrated or not
• E.g., he argued that the Catholic sense of community was more powerful than that encouraged by the Protestant religions and therefore Catholics had a stronger sense of belonging to a society, with Protestants being more likely to commit suicide
Comments
No comments have yet been made