Resource Tag: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

A model of the escape theory of suicide was tested, using various scales, on 114 college students. Results indicate that socially prescribed perfectionism was significantly positively correlated with suicide ideation in addition to hopelessness & depression. When college students think others have unrealistically high expectations of them, they are likely to be suicidal. The authors […]

The book Suicide Explained: The Australian Experience is reviewed. The author states that the book presents a resourceful & comprehensive of suicide in Australia, highlighting how suicide integrates with social factors.

Suicide may be seen as the ultimate private action. However, it is argued that social forces & pathologies may play a larger part. Several examples of “social suicide” are considered, including mass suicide, organizational self-destruction, social analogues to individual suicide, & military suicide. The author concludes that suicide prevention requires social, economic, & cultural transformations […]

This article examines suicide from a phenomenological perspective. The perceived subjective world of the inmate subculture is given careful consideration. The relationship between inmates’ ethnicity, socioeconomic status, & suicide is explained. For inmates most susceptible (white/middle-class) to a double-deviant status, reality becomes anomic & suicide becomes a cognitive alternative to a meaningless situation & an […]

The theory of suicide proposed by Masaryk in 1881 was reviewed & 2 predictions derived from the theory: namely that suicide rates should increase with decreasing religiosity & increasing modernization. Both predictions were supported. Suicide rates have increased in the majority of nations over the last hundred years & are associated with church attendance (but […]

10 typologies of suicide were applied to a sample of 404 completed suicide cases & classified by judges as descriptive or not descriptive of each case. Classifications showed a high degree of interrater reliability. The typologies were able to classify from 61-86% of the cases. 5 subtypes described 86% of all cases: escapist, confused, aggressive, […]

The suicide rates by age for each gender & ethnic group in the USA during 1940-84 were used to test the hypothesis that the suicide rate is affected by a combination of economic & social variables, & to explore the relationship between the economy & the suicide rate. It was found that the relationship between […]

A set of social indicators for the USA in 1980 was subjected to a factor analysis, & 7 factors identified. One, measuring social disintegration was consistently associated with suicide rates by sex, age, marital status & race, but not by method, lending some support to Durkheim’s theory of suicide. A second factor, measuring a southern […]

The effects of family, school, peers, & religion on adolescent suicidal ideation were investigated using self-derogation as a mediating variable. As was hypothesized, the effects of different social variables were largely mediated by self-derogation. Family variables were found to be more salient predictors of both self-derogation & suicidal ideation than were nonfamily variables. (60 refs.)

The relationship between suicidality, life stress, coping, depression & family dysfunction in Mexican American teens was studied. 35 “normal” & 15 “troubled” adolescents took part in the study. Findings are discussed from the perspective of Mexican American culture. Effective coping & family cohesion were related to decreased suicidality & depression was related to increased levels […]

Distinguishing factor in suicide is invalidation of self-concept. During interaction, sense of self is subject to evaluation, integration, & adaptation that produces validation or invalidation of the sense of self. Major invalidation causes annihilation of sense of self & can lead to suicide. Self theory is reviewed. Past & present models of suicide are looked […]

Demographic data on 487 cases of completed suicide have been analyzed to detect changing trends in this area. Several statistics are very significant. Unexpectedly low suicide rates have been found for the unemployed. Gunshot wound to the head as a method of violent suicide has increased, especially among females. Statistical findings have documented that a […]

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This excerpt is from Durkheim’s 1897 work, “Suicide: A Study in Sociology”. In this book Durkheim argued that suicide rates directly reflect social stability.

In this chapter the social context of suicide is examined following the thesis that lethality for the individual is shaped by views within a particular culture about choices regarding unbearable perturbation. Suicide is viewed as an idea. Areas for further research are suggested. (71 refs.)

Some ways in which suicide might impact upon a society, e.g. the economic costs & the effect of suicide on life-expectancy are identified. The possible impact of political suicides on the society is noted. Several issues concerning the effect of society on suicide are reviewed, e.g. is there a need for different theories to study […]

Definitions & methodological issues related to suicidology & stress research are reviewed & their relevance to the studies presented are clarified. The definition of parasuicide was chosen for all non-fatal deliberate self-injurious behavior, & the interactive nature of suicidal behavior & environmental events was stressed. A diathesis-stress model of suicidal behavior was advanced & the […]

This study corroborates the findings by Stack (1980) on the relationship between interstate migration & suicide. Using Canadian data from the 1970s, strong support for a migration effect emerges. This finding also lends support to the culture shock hypothesis. The main effect of migration acts to raise the odds of suicide. A 1% change in […]

The 3 distinct suicide cycles reported since the late 1800s have been explained using sociological & biological theories which operate through motivation. However, such cycles can also be explained by opportunity. This study analysed recent findings on age- & sex-specific suicide cycles & illustrated a fundamental confound of motivation & opportunity. The study underscores the […]

The relationship between the heavy metal music subculture & suicide is assessed using data on heavy metal magazine subscriptions & youth suicide in the 50 states. It was found that, controlling for other predictors of suicide, the greater the strength of the metal subculture, the higher the youth suicide rate. The music perhaps nurtures suicidal […]

A method is illustrated for studying the lives of suicidal individuals using the theories of Adler, Binswanger, Freud, Jung, Kelly, Menninger, Murray, Shneidman, Sullivan, Zilboorg, Beck, Lester, Henry & Short, Leenaars & Maris. 150 statements are rated as present or absent in the lives of 30 famous suicides for whom a biography is available. Beck’s […]