Suicide
Synoptic – theory and methods
Lesson 1
Introduction and Durkheim
Before we start…
Suicide is a very sensitive topic. If anyone
has any concerns with this, please talk to
me. Alternatively…
The Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90
jo@samaritans.org
Starter
Read the article on Bridgend.
Brainstorm all the reasons for this social
phenomena
Why would sociologists be interested in suicide?
Why would a psychologist be interested in
suicide?
How could you study suicide – think of at least 3
ways.
Objectives
To consider factors than suggest a death is not
accidental, but suicidal
To be able to form initial ideas about the process
of classifying a death as a suicide
To be able to consider why people commit suicide
To be able to understand Durkheim theory of
Suicide
To understand why sociologists are interested in
suicide
To revise the limitations of official statistics
Brainstorm…
If you believed a death was suicide, what
would you be looking for to confirm that?
What happens when a body is found?
Who decides what is a suicide?
What other verdicts of death are there?
Why are sociologists interested in
Suicide?
Suicide is one of the most personal and
individual decision a person can make – so
why would sociologists – who look at the
big picture – be concerned about what is a
psychological problem?
Brainstorm reasons why sociologists might
be interested?
Durkheim – “Suicide: A Study” 1897
Most other research has been a reaction to this initial
research – either supporting or contradicting
Why?
To show sociology was a separate discipline to any other
subject
To find the least likely topic for sociological analysis so he
could support the weight of sociology as an academic
discipline
To show that suicide couldn’t fully be explained by an
individual decision
Wide availability of suicide statistics
TO be sociological…
Durkheim had to show suicide rates were
relatively stable over time – why would is
have made a difference if they were varied
over time in each country?
Durkheim had to show that these were
“social facts” – what are social facts and
why how could suicide be a social fact?
Do the following stats show this?
Key findings from Statistics -
rates of Suicide per million inhabitants
Country 1866-70 1871-75 1874-78 Numerical Numerical Numerical
position position position
Italy 30 35 38 1 1 1
Belgium 66 69 78 2 3 4
England 67 66 69 3 2 2
Norway 76 73 71 4 4 3
Austria 78 94 130 5 7 7
Sweden 85 81 91 6 5 5
Bavaria* 90 91 100 7 6 6
France 135 150 160 8 9 9
Prussia* 142 134 152 9 8 8
Denmark 277 258 255 10 10 10
Saxony* 293 267 334 11 11 11
W/S 1 on suicide statistics
Correlations
What is the problem with a correlation?
Correlations found…
Higher suicide rates in Protestant countries then in Catholic Countries -
Why?
Jews had the lowest rate of any religious group – why?
Married men committed more suicide than bachelors. However, a proper
analysis (exclusion of men unlikely to get married - children) showed that
suicide is higher among bachelors than among married men. - being a
bachelor increased the likelihood of suicide by 160% (or marriage reduced
it by 50%). – why?
Childless married women were more likely to commit suicide than married
women with children – why?
There is a low suicide rate after political upheaval – why?
Men were more likely to kill themselves than women – why?
Higher levels of education are correlated with high levels of suicide – why?
Types of Suicide
Altruistic
Fatalistic Anomic
Egoistic
Types of suicide were take from the
research by Durkheim – decided by the
regulation of the members of society, and
their integration into that society
Task – read the sheet (Haralambos) and
note by each type info about it
Synoptic Link – Methodology mindmap the following
synoptic links
Positivist or interpretivist?
Strengths and limitations of official statistics?
Strengths and limitations of cross cultural
comparisons?
Strengths and limitations of social facts?
Extention:
How might other perspectives on suicide interpret
this data/ research suicide?
The response to Durkheim
Positivists – praise his work
Refinements have been made, but never challenges his idea of
using scientific methods
Other Positivists believe it to be comprehensive and reliable
Had been updated with new data and new statistical techniques to
find new correlations, but generally accepted as sound
Some believe he overestimated the importance of religion (seems
true in modern world) and that he underestimated the importance of
living in a rural V Urban environment
Some criticised him for using immeasurable concepts – ones that
couldn’t be measured – i.e. “integration” – which made it impossible
to test the theory
Evaluation of Suicide statistics
Look at the following case studies and identify the problems they highlight
for suicide statistics…
Jo tried to kill herself 3 times, each time she was saved by paramedics.
Matt threw himself under a train. He has been in a coma for the last 3
years.
Penny was in the World trade centre when it got hit by the plane in 2001.
She threw herself out of the window of the 21st floor rather than burn to
death
Richard was found dead in his house. There was no note, but he had taken
a higher than average dose of his prescription medication
Tom lived life hard, often indulging in risky behaviours such as driving too
fast while drunk, injecting drugs. One evening after breaking up with his
girlfriend, he drove his car drunk into the central reservation of the
motorway and died.
Homework
Fill in the sheet about Durkheim’s approach
to Suicide
Plenary
Watch the following videos – which are all about
suicides
Which of Durkheim’s types of suicide do you think
they fit?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kw5vz6zCj3k
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5yINOn4N4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wnao-vuCck8
Lesson 2
The Interpretivists – Douglas and
Baechler
Starter
Fill in the gaps – evaluation of Durkheim’s work
Key words
Scientific integration positivists rural test
comprehensive quantitative
measurable Defined interpretivists
religion bias urban Official statistics
Objectives
TO be able to understand and evaluate the
interpretivist theories of suicide
To revise Durkheim’s theories of suicide
Interpretivism
Reject positivism and Durkheim's basic
principles
But they do believe that sociology can
explain suicide
Douglas (1967) – The Social Meaning
of Suicide
Criticised the validity of statistics
Believed that the decision on whether a
death is suicide is made by the coroner but
influenced by other people – e.g. family and
friends
Bias therefore enters the decisions and this
bias can explain the statistics – rather than
“social facts”
Questions
Why might someone with a very close family and
lots of friends be less likely to be classed as
suicide?
Why would a death of a catholic be less likely to
be described as suicide?
Why are you more likely to want a friend to have
died of an accident than of suicide?
How might these effect the validity of official
statistics?
Douglas saw a decision on death as a
process of negotiation, rather than an
objective status
He does believe that these are systematic
biases – rather than variable over time – so
there is some value to statistics
A second criticism
Douglas didn’t agree that all suicides of the same
type should have been categorised as the same
without looking at the personal meaning behind
them
Read your article on suicide bombers
Brainstorm all the other reasons you can think of
for being a suicide bomber… should they all fit
into the same category by Durkheim?
In different cultures, suicide has different
meanings
Take the information and identify the
meaning of suicide in different cultures
How does this relate to sociology?
Douglas believes that each suicide should
be taken as a case study…
Brainstorm everything you know about the case study
method…inc eval…
He believed that case studies should be based on
interviews with people who knew the deceased
well; he also believed that analysis of the diaries
of the deceased and suicide notes
Make a list of key evaluation points for the above
methods
How much relevant information do you think you
would get?
How do you think the diary of a suicidal person
would be different to the diary of a non-suicidal
person?
He claimed the most common Western
suicides are because of :
Transformation of the soul (e.g. to get to heaven)
Transformation of the self (to get others to think
of you in a different way)
As a means of achieving sympathy
As a means of revenge by making others feel
guilty
Read the following case studies and decide which of Douglas’
types they fall into – then do the same for Durkheim and
compare
Extention:
Where are there similarities and differences
between the two theories?
Jean Baechler – Suicide as Problem
Solving
Developed on Douglas’ work – using case studies
and classifying them on their meaning
Suicide as a way of responding to and attempts to
solve a problem – only used when there is no
alternative solution
Suicide can after a number of different situations
they are in response to and the type of solution
they offer
Baechler
– Types
of Suicide
Aggressiv
Escapist Oblative Ludic
e
Flight Grief –
Self-
from loss of vengeanc Transfigur
punishme Crime Blackmail Appeal Sacrifice Ordeal Game
intolerabl somethin e ation
nt
e situation g
Task
For each type of suicide, annotate the sheet with
an example
Return to the case studies – where do they fit into
these types
Extention:
Durkheim, Douglas and Baechler all use
categories but arrived at them from different ways
– does it mean positivism and interpretivism are
trying to find the same end point? Are they that
different?
Evaluation of Interpretivist approaches
Don’t write anything, just think about the following questions…
At what point do these become psychological?
Do you think external causes for suicide can be found or should we
look more specifically?
Can we categorise such a personal act into groups and headings?
How can we truly know why a person killed themselves and the
meaning given to these?
Case studies have included content analysis of diaries and suicide
notes – what are the strengths and limitations of these?
Are samples representative?
Is it important that he included failed suicide attempts?
Key eval points
Criticised for failing to recognise Durkheim’s work (Taylor)
The categories are not always mutually exclusive – yet they
claim to be
Depends on how the researcher has interpreted the available
info – Taylor suggests these categorise are no more reliable
than official statistics
Douglas contradicts himself – saying at points that the
decision being whether a death is seen as suicide is
judgement – and at other points saying we can find the
causes of suicide
Extention activity
Create a revision mind map of the
interpretivist theory of suicide – highlighting
in particular all your links to other areas of
sociology
Homework
Fill out the sheets for the Interpretivists and
Suicide
Plenary
Name 5 types of suicide according to Baechler
Summarise Douglas's theory into 4 key points
Give 3 evaluation points of the interpretivist
approach
Name two people who we have looked at as case
studies
Identify one criticism of Douglas
Lesson 3
The Phenomenologists – Atkinson
and Taylor
Starter
Which of these is more likely to be suicide?
Explain why…
Objectives
To understand the Phenomenologists
theory of suicide
To be able to criticise this theory of suicide
What do Phenomenologists believe?
Phenomenology argues that the only 'PHENOMENA' that we can
be sure of is that we are 'conscious' thinking beings.
Therefore we should study any phenomena around us in terms of
the way we consciously experience them. This examination should
be free of preconceptions and causal ideas.
Alfred Schutz (1899-1959) who thought that Sociology should look
at the way individual 'construct' the social world.
In other words…
The social world is a construction of an actor’s perception and
subjective interpretations – there is no objective reality; no social
facts, not rates
It focuses on meanings employed by the actors of an event and
how they came to those meanings – in this case, how the decision
of suicide is come upon by the coroner
Atkinson “Discovering Suicide”
Official statistics are part of the social world – not
an objective realist, but a thing that is constructed
by actors – so Atkinson investigated how actors
construct this reality
He discussed with coroners; attendance at
inquests in 3 towns, observations of coroners at
work and through records of a coroner
Brainstorm strengths and weaknesses of these
methods
How do deaths get categorised as suicide?
The “Common sense theory” held by coroners
Was a suicide note left
or were there threats of
suicide beforehand?
What was the mode of death?
drowning, hanging, gassing, drugs?
Location and circumstance…public or private?
Place where accidents could happen?
Biography of the deceased
– inc mental state; social situation,
history of mental illness,
recent traumatic events (similar to Durkheim’s integration)
Task
Read the following case study and see which
“common sense” aspects are shown
Task – take the criticism sheet and summarise the
key points
Extention:
Which of the theories are more credible? Explain?
Which is more scientific?
Which is most valid?
What other ways can you think of to investigate
suicide in a sociological way?
What is Realism?
They accept social structures have some form of influence over our lives –
Yet they also accept that what we believe to be real will have important
consequences for our behaviour
However, unlike positivism, they believe social structures are a product of
specific social relationships – they are created by powerful groups,
perusing their own interests
Unlike interpretivist, they do believe these created structures have an
objective existence beyond the people who created them and these
structures cannot be easily changed
E.g. when you enter into a relationship with someone, you have created
something that exists beyond your individuality and it influences how others
relate to you also – which you can’t easily change
Structures are not permanent and can only be studied as a set of
relationships in a certain time at a certain place. They can only be studied
by the effects as by themselves, they are unobservable (e.g. “marriage”)
Taylor: Beyond Positivism and
Phenomenology
“Persons under trains”
Agrees statistics are unreliable
12 months, 32 people died when being hit
by trains on the London Underground
without any clue why
No notes, no witnesses – no certainty
17 cases = suicide verdict; 5=accidental
10=open verdict
What made a suicide verdict more
likely?
History of mental illness
Social failure
Disgrace
When they had no good reason to be at the tube
station
Witnesses to state of mind – inc friends and family
(who tend to deny that the person had a reason to
kill themselves) or those further away – e.g.
landlady – less likely to deny suicide
Why might these not always be a suicide?
The methods…
Attempts to uncover underlying,
unobservable structures and causal
processes – based on realist perspectives
From these, he classified different types of
suicide
Found 4 types of suicide faced by
individuals – not necessarily linked to
society
Do I think about myself or do I think about
others?
Am I certain I want to die? Am I certain
about myself?
Ectopic (suicidal
action inner
directed)
Uncertainty Thanatation (who am Submissive (I am Certainty
I?) dead)
(suicidal action an (suicidal action
ordeal) purposive)
Appeal (who are you?) Sacrifice (I am killed
Symphysic
(Suicide action
(other directed)
Task
Take the diagram and annotate it using the
sheets given and the textbooks
Think of some evaluation points to this
theory, this method and this approach to
explaining suicide
Compare and Contrast
A good form of evaluation – and in this exam, the best way to
show your skills
Your task is to find the similarities and differences between
the theories
But it’s not always that easy…
Firstly think of types of similarities and differences you might
find..
E.g.: type of research method used
Type of theoretical approach
Take a few minutes to think of some more categorise…
Did you have any of these?
Top down or bottom up?
Defines suicide into types?
Types are mutually exclusive?
Similar criticisms?
Individual or society?
Any others?
Draw up a grid and compare and
contrast the 4 theories
Extention:
Write an argument – using the compare
and contrast – to address which theory is
more clear at explaining the relationship
between suicide and society
Homework
Fill out the sheet for the Phenomenologists
and the realists
Plenary
Sorting task – which categories go with
which theories?
Lesson 4
Consolidation on Suicide – and
synoptic links
Starter
Case studies
You have 4 theories of suicide
For each case study, you should place it
into the theories – which type of suicide
does it fit into in each case?
Start to think about the similarities and
differences between each theory
Objectives
To consolidate knowledge of suicide
To be able to identify synoptic links in
suicide
To be able to compare and contrast the
different theories
Activity 1 (15mins)
Read article. Highlight all synoptic links to
areas we have studied in one colour and in
another colour, highlight all the links to
other areas of society
Activity 2 (30 mins)
Fill in revision materials – try as little as
possible to use notes to guide you
Activity 3 (20 mins)
You have many areas of sociology and you need
to make synoptic links
Make mind maps of each synoptic link to suicide –
putting in as much detail as possible as this is
very important for this exam
Your links are: religion; global development;
family; health and illness; wealth and poverty;
education; power and politics; stratification;
theory; methods; mass media; work and leisure
Activity 4 (20 mins)
Essay… create a plan for this and write
essay for homework
Referring to two or more areas of
sociology, evaluate the usefulness of
studies of suicide to a sociological
understanding of deviance in society (40)
Plenary
Agree or disagree…
Suicide is too personal
to be studied through
statistics
Suicide statistics
should include
attempts as well as
successes
If people want to
kill themselves, we
should just let them
Suicide is a mortal
sin
People who commit
suicide are extremely
selfish for putting
relatives through it
Most suicide
attempts are
attention seeking
Lesson 5
Essay Practice - Suicide
Starter
Timed question – 12 minutes:
Identify and briefly explain two problems of
using official statistics in the study of
suicide (8 marks)
Swap and peer mark
Objectives
To develop essay skills
To develop short answer skills
TO know what the exam is asking for
Suicide type questions
Examine some of the problems of using official statistics in the
study of Deviance (12 marks)
Examine the relationship between gender and deviance, making
use of two or more different areas of sociology (12 marks)
Examine some of the problems of using qualitative methods and
sources of data to study deviance (12 marks)
Examine some of the reasons why there might be correlations
between suicides and other social facts – referring to two areas of
sociology (12)
Assess the usefulness of interpretivist approaches to the study of
suicide (40)
Referring to two or more areas of sociology, evaluate the
usefulness of studies of suicide to a sociological understanding of
deviance in society (40)
Methods questions – where do I make
other links?
Examine some of the problems of using official statistics in the
study of Deviance (12 marks)
Examine some of the problems of using qualitative methods and
sources of data to study deviance (12 marks)
Assess the usefulness of interpretivist approaches to the study of
suicide (40)
Take the 2 short answers and brainstorm what you might put into
them
Highlight links to other areas of sociology in your brainstorms
Discuss
Times writing – 18 minutes per 12 mark questions – off you go
Swap – peer mark using mark scheme
Other types of short answers
Examine the relationship between gender and
deviance, making use of two or more different
areas of sociology (12 marks)
Examine some of the reasons why there might be
correlations between suicides and other social
facts – referring to two areas of sociology (12)
Again, just bullet point some ideas – highlighting
the links
Discuss
Essay Answers
Mark scheme says:
Read and Mark the following essay…
Specimen material – using mark scheme
Brainstorm ideas in pairs for one of
the below essays
Assess the usefulness of interpretivist
approaches to the study of suicide (40)
Referring to two or more areas of
sociology, evaluate the usefulness of
studies of suicide to a sociological
understanding of deviance in society (40)
Look at the plans
For the essay you didn’t do, add detail to
the plan, including specific detail of
research, elaboration of evaluation etc
Timed essay
Should take 1 hour – but I’m going to give you 30
minutes so we can focus on skills are well as knowledge
– try to write half an essay – with as much argument as
you can put into it within the time span
Off you go
Swap and assess the work of the other person
Highlight on their essay where they have been using
synoptic links
Write 3 targets for them to help them improve their work
Homework
Using comments from the peer marking,
rewrite the first half and complete the whole
essay for next week.
Plenary
Durkheim, Atkinson, Taylor and Douglas
are in a hot air balloon when it springs a
leak. One has to jump out or they will all
die. Who should be the one to jump out and
why?