Causes of Suicide in Society - Essay Example

Reducing suicidal rates could be the most significant dilemma in the society. The issue is not the fact on the occurrence of suicides but the origin and causes of the problems. Many researchers such Durkheim have indulged in studying and explaining the issue, but their interest has not yet yield desirable results on the origins of suicide. While societies may have the desire to eradicated suicide from their communities, it will remain hard and maybe impossible until they now why people come into terms with the idea of killing themselves. However, Durkheim shows that psychological issues do not cause suicide but social influence in the aspects of integration and regulation Johnson (1965). However, various suicidologist like David Lester claims that they have not identified why people commit suicides (Dubner 2011). Hence, although Durkheim’s work narrows the causes of suicide to social integration and regulation, modern researchers are still in the dilemma of why people kill themselves.

The most surprising and probably interesting fact about suicide is that nobody knows why the action is prevalent in society. According to Dubner (2011), most people do not know and cannot explain why people kill themselves. Cases have been hard where people left suicidal notes before committing the act. However, nobody can analyze and get the actual truth about the issue. For instance, if someone commits suicide and leaves a not saying he/she was engaged in families fight with their spouse, it will only make sense because maybe the misunderstanding happened. However, the fight is not the exact cause of the suicide. The deceased must have thought a lot before indulging into the action. Various questions must have risen in their minds. Why should I always indulge in a fight with my partner? How can I solve the issue? Are these solutions viable to the problem? If not, then being dead is an ultimate solution. Most of the suicidal cases have more explanations than meets the eye but understanding the reason behind then action is technically hard and almost impossible (Dubner, 2011). Besides, the person with the information is eventually dead and not able to communicate how they felt before coming to a decision.

Although Durkheim presents various suicidal concepts, including egoistic, anomic, altruistic, and fatalistic, he narrows the issue to one cause of suicide. Johnson (1965) argues that the high rates of suicide can only be attributed to two variables, integration and regulation. Hence, social integration and regulation in society could be an explanation of why people commit suicides. Various communities are regulated differently. The leaders believe and implement different causes of action. Why would it be wrong for a specific person to commit suicide and not another? Such relations involve issues like racism. For instance, it would only be a societal issue that requires attention for a racist if a white commits suicide (Dubner, 2011). On the other hand, it would be completely okay and raise no issue if a black commits suicide. The integration and regulation based on social issues is an explanation for suicide. Most people might have committed suicide because nobody cares. Others might have done the same to prove the importance of their social class in society. Narrowing down to the cause (integration and regulation) Durkheim emphasizes the cause of suicide is single (Johnson, 1965). However, the actual explanation may still not be known despite the analysis through integration and regulation.

The fact that the reason why people kill themselves is unknown aligns with the altruism concept in Durkheim’s framework. Abrutyn and Mueller (2015) claim that people shift the need for understanding the cause of suicide to the motive of the victim that, altruism=self-sacrifice. Drifting from the significant idea on the issue results in complications because people, including suicidologist do not maintain the right attention in knowing and understanding the causes of suicide (Abrutyn and Mueller 2015). “Sociology has primarily focused on anomic and egoistic suicides and neglected suicides predicated on too much integration or regulation,” (Abrutyn and Mueller 2015). Durkheim's theory shows that egoistic suicide happens when people feel isolated and that they do not have any place in society. The feelings conspire the need to look for a better place where maybe they can feel like part of the community. Hence, they end up destroying themselves through murder. On the other hand, anomic suicide occurs due to sudden social breakdown like bankruptcy. It only happens after an unexpected occurrence in the social life of a person. The definitions and relationship to integration and regulation reveal that there are emotional and cultural insights to the suicides. For instance, it is only emotional to commit suicide if someone feels isolated or has gone through a specific drastic change.

However, some explanations may not agree with the fact that high levels of integration and regulation play a significant role in the rise of suicidal rates. According to Abrutyn and Mueller (2015), people have rejected that social aspects may not be harmful. Instead, the burden on the causes of suicide can focus on three essential explanations. The first explanation is disruptions (Abrutyn and Mueller 2015). People may be committing suicide because of various disturbances, such as failure in life. For instance, a person may commit suicide due to an incidence like a lost contract. While the issue may look obvious in society, it would mean much for someone to the extent of losing the value of life. Secondly, the other explanation for suicide is the spread of negative emotions and ideas (Abrutyn and Mueller 2015). How would someone endure life in the continuity of negative feels almost in every aspect? Although societal norms may assume its standard for the occurrence, it may be hard for some people to take in and accept. Hence, they lead to suicidal thoughts and finally, the action.

The third explanation is the pervasiveness of negative, suicide readings (Abrutyn and Mueller 2015). Such scripts induce high levels of suicidal thoughts, iterating to more cases of suicides in society. Although the aspects give clear explanations on the causes of suicide, they stand in to provide a further understanding of how and why integration and regulation can be harmful to the extent of causing suicide. Hence, the explanations do not deter the significant cause of suicide (integration and regulation) but explain how it leads to the witnessed cases (Johnson, 1965). Some rules push some people, and all they can see from a different point of view is that whatever is happening in the community is not right. On the other hand, integration of some values can harm people, though not intentionally. Some of the believe made to protect people in society harm them and silent probably in fear of what may happen if they speak out results to suicide as an alternative. Hence, the bottom line is that extreme integration and regulation is not functional and can lead to suicide.

Durkheim’s work reveals that the origin of suicide is related to a social cause and not various psychological causes. In this case, people do not have desirable content in explaining why exactly people commit suicide. The relationship between the dilemma on the reason behind the occurrence of suicide and Durkheim’s work identifying integration and regulation as the one major cause yields the need for more research on the origins of increased rates of suicides in the community (Condorelli, 2016). However, we cannot only agree that the given cause is real until proven invalid. Hence, suicide is linked to societal influence, without a clear identification of why people find themselves in action. However, most people in modern societies have enacted excellent ways to deal with issues such as stress, resulting in stabilized levels of suicide rates (Condorelli, 2016). Also, modernization has led to social fragmentation, resulting in low social integration with minimized cases (Condorelli, 2016). Although modern researchers may introduce new perspectives, theories such as Durkheim’s work are essential in their study. They understand the issues facing the origin and causes of suicide. Hence, knowledge gives them an excellent basis for the studies they wish to conduct on the social problem.

Although Durkheim's theory might have explained the cause of suicide, it is still not clear why people indulge in the action. Unfortunately, the issue remains to be unsolved while people continue perishing through harmful activities like . The prevalence calls for modern research to ensure distinct identification of the primary cause. Attaining this goal will pave the way to curbing suicidal rates if not to zero to minimal cases. Hence, Durkheim’s theory is not an affirmation of the cause of suicide and societies should continue enacting studies to identify the major cause.

Abrutyn, S., & Mueller, A. S. (2016). When too much integration and regulation hurts: Reenvisioning Durkheim’s altruistic suicide. Society and Mental Health, 6(1), 56-71.

Condorelli, R. (2016). Social complexity, modernity and suicide: an assessment of Durkheim’s suicide from the perspective of a non-linear analysis of complex social systems. SpringerPlus, 5(1), 374.

Dubner, S. J. (2019, November 27). The suicide paradox (EP. 40). Retrieved from https://freakonomics.com/podcast/new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-the-suicide-paradox/

Johnson, B. D. (1965). Durkheim's one cause of suicide. American Sociological Review, 875-886.