Suicide

Emile Durkheim was to become one of the most influential writers in regard to the subject of suicide and its link to the state of our modern society. For centuries before his writing, suicide was regarded as a moral and psychological problem that was caused by differences inherent to the individual. Durkheim’s work was the first to imply that the study of suicide could not be based on individuals and it was crucial to create a sociological approach regarding the external causes of society itself. His work, although receiving a great deal of criticism, has provoked a change in such studies ever since, with many sociologists using an interpretation of Durkheim’s theories as the basis of their own studies.

In order to display that the crisis in our society was caused by factors external to the individuals, Durkheim systematically analysed each alternative possibility, all of which he eventually ruled out as a possible cause. He defined these alternatives as “organic-psychic dispositions and the nature of the physical environment” (Durkheim,E 1989). In studying the former of these, Durkheim wished to determine whether there existed an inclination among certain individuals towards suicide and he began by analysing the components of insanity. It was assumed by a number of theorists known as alienists that every suicide was committed by a person inflicted by insanity and that, according to Bourdin, suicide is simply a disease and special form of insanity. (Durkheim,E 1989) Durkheim continues this line of thought in order to discover what exactly is meant by such an insanity of suicide. He proposes that if suicide were to be a type of insanity then it would therefore be known as a ‘monomania’; a delirium of localised nature. It was believed that this monomania would be provoked by a violent emotional disturbance, which appears to link with the idea that suicides are usually “influenced by some abnormal passion” (Durkheim, E 1989). However, Durkheim finds fault with this