Using material from item A and elsewhere, examine some of the reasons why there might be ‘correlations between suicides and other sets of social facts’ (12 marks)
A correlation is a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things. Some distinctive correlations between suicide and other sets of social factors would include correlations such as the correlation between suicide and religion and suicide and marriage. For example the item includes one correlation stating that “suicide rates were higher in predominantly protestant countries” Suicide has been defined by Durkheim, although it has been defined in four ways as suicide is too complex to define in one way, these definitions being Altruistic, Egoistic, Anomic and Fatalistic. Although Douglas has stated that there are more in depth and more accurate definitions of suicide.
Starting with the first correlation being suicide and religion, in relation to this, Durkheim’s definition of Egoistic suicide explains that in egoistic societies, individual rights, interests and welfare are heavily stressed and allegiance to the wider group is weak, with people being encourages to look after themselves and those particularly close to them at the expense of the wider society. Egoistic Suicide is defined as suicide in societies where people regard their own individual happiness as very important. As a result, social bonds are weak and there is a low level of social integration. Egoistic societies are often closely related to Protestantism, a strand of Christianity that stresses the responsibility of individuals to make their own decisions and to accept the consequences of doing so. Culturally individual failure or unhappiness is viewed as acceptable grounds for people to take their own lives and this is typical of contemporary European and North American societies. This form of suicide, Egoistic, is clearly linked