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Assess Different Sociological Explanations of Suicide

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Uzochi Ihebuzor
Assess different sociological explanations of suicide
The study of suicide has a unique place in sociology because it was the subject that Durkheim chose to use in order to demonstrate that sociology had its own distinctive contribution to understanding human behaviour.
Early Positivists such as Comte and Durkheim argued that sociology was a science therefore they believed that its studies should mirror that of the natural sciences. They advocated scientific and logical methods in order to find law like generalizable patterns and cause & effect relationships. New Positivists aim to develop their theories, whereas Interpretivists sought to abolish this they criticise this theory as such methods are at the expense of actors individual meanings
Durkheim suggested that suicide was a social fact. Features of a social facts are that they are external and greater than the individual, they constraint their behaviour therefore shaping the way they act. He argued that factors e.g. climate had no effect on suicide rates. He also claimed that psychological theories were inadequate as he rejects the views that only psychological factors can explain the differences in suicide rates taking the macro structuralist approach.
In order to show evidence of his theory Durkheim studied the suicide rates of Catholics and Protestants in the 19th century he found that suicide rates remained constants and rates varied between different groups. He measured social integration and moral regulation claiming that too little or too much explained the cause of suicides. He explicitly distinguishes between traditional societies and modern society. Altruistic suicide and Fatalistic suicide back then was common and egoistic and anomic suicide more suited to modern society. He used the comparative methods of experiment and favoured quantitative methods such as Official

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