Denomination, Religious Context, and Suicide: Neo-Durkheimian Multilevel Explanations Tested With Individual and Contextual Data

In “Le Suicide”, Durkheim found involvement in religious communities is inversely related to suicide risk. In this article, 2 explanations for this relationship are examined. One is that religious networks provide support; the other is that religious communities prohibit suicide. Individual-level data on suicide in the Netherlands from 1936-1973 are used. Results show that with an increase in the proportion of religious persons in a municipality, the changes of dying by suicide decreased for evey denomination in the municipality, as well as among nonchurch members. With the secularization of Dutch society, the impact of religious composition on suicide wanes. (71 refs.)