An Essay on Suicide and Disease in Canadian Indian Reserves: Bringing Durkheim Back in

The argument presented in this paper is informed by a Durkheimian paradigm, namely, that the high incidence of suicide (& the pathological risk syndromes associated with suicidal behaviour) among Aboriginal people in Canada are manifest & latent functions of the Reserve system. The author argues that the latter is a “closed” system of human interaction as it has evolved over the years & is maintained by popular hegemony & state authority. Goffman’s analysis of “total institutions” is also used to throw light on the socio-economic “incompleteness” of Reserve life. (140 refs)