Mexican Society in the eyes of Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim

There are several theories that attempt to understand suicide, such as Durkheim’s Sociological Theory of Suicide and Shneidman’s Theory of Suicide as Psychache. However, one of the newest and most well known theories is Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. The goal of this theory is to understand suicide at an interpersonal level. More specifically, it evaluates why individuals engage in suicidal behavior and identifies individuals who are at risk for engaging in such behaviors. There are three main components of Joiner’s theory, including thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability.

As once put by Mexican Nobel laureate Octavio Paz, Mexico is a land of “super-imposed pasts” (McCormick, p.326). It continues to be and is seen as a melding pot of its European and Native American ideas about society, law and government. Its history has had a major influence on the political culture of Mexico, seen through years of revolution, violence and corruption. Mexico is a considered a new democracy, but there is a tension still seen between democracy and authoritarianism. The country we see today has impressive growth yet is still enduring poverty. It’s a geographically diverse country, with a population of approximately 106million people. Latin American political culture is seen as “elitist,

Egoistic suicide which is when individuals are not integrated well enough into society for example people who live alone compared to those who live with family. Secondly Altruistic suicide which is when individuals are felt to be too integrated into society causing suicide, for example members of the armed forces were said to have greater suicide rates than civilian personnel as they were too strongly integrated into a united body. Durkheim also put forward the idea of Anomic suicide, this is when the norms and values in society become unclear or confused in times of great social change and an individual is not taught to adapt to changes well enough. For example an unexpected death of a family member is sudden social change which can cause Anomic suicide. Lastly, he suggested Fatalistic suicide. Fatalism is the excessive amount of regulation which leads to one committing suicide.

Citizens take pride in their economic independence, mexico still values community in its cities and towns, its plazas and schools, and its work organizations. In Mexican culture the expectation of working and socializing together is a key component of society, and has a basis in the strong ties formed within the family. However, lack of faith in the government is a result of widespread political corruption. Even at the lowest levels, police officers readily accept bribes from those wishing to avoid the nuisance of a traffic ticket or a night in prison. In recent years, the government has begun addressing this corruption by reducing the number of state-owned businesses and calling on Mexicans to refuse to give bribes. This, however, has proven difficult, and the progress has been slow.

The existence of too much and too little integration and regulation results in different suicides such as egotistic and anomie. Egoistic suicide happens when individuals are integrated too little (such as elderlies), there is excessive individualism, which is low social integration. Individuals who do decide to commit egoistic suicide are just not strongly supported by their peers in a unified social group. On the other hand, anomie suicide is committed once the person’s sense of perseverance is lost and individuals not being connected to the society. The circumstance of uncertainty results from the breakdown of morals and values and from the lack of ambition and

This paper will discuss how the idea of freedom of expression is being threatened in Mexico. It will begin with a personal take on two works related to the cause. The first, an analysis of “In Mexico, Hunted Down for Speaking Out” by Laura Carlson, will discuss the language and manner through which she chose to express her ideas. The exploration of her work will lead to three questions: “Is the right to free speech being threatened in Mexico?”; “If so, What does the government have to do with it?” and “Has this been an ongoing trend in Mexican society?” An analysis of the writing and style of Leah Acoach used in her work Communication and the Mexican Constitution: An Examination of Cultural and Literal Implications, will begin to answer these questions, though it is the discussion afterward that will answer them most directly. It is in these paragraphs that various examples are cited, examples that demonstrate a corrupt government’s effort to silence its people (Carlson).

This transformation of power is easier to get, harder to use and easier to lose” pg 2. The connectivity of people communicating and collaborating with one another has caused a shift in power. Our digital age has made it possible for people to connect, share and exchange information, through Facebook, LinkedIn, tweeter and Instagram. These social networks are design to build relationships and to provide a means to stay socially connected. In Naims’ book, he describes three revolutions that support his reasoning for the decay in power: More, Mobility and Mentality revolutions. These revolutions connect with the mindset, expectations and aspirations of individuals. Naims’s believes that “people’s actions are driven by the possibility of a better quality of life”. The social communications allows individual to have the confidence to use social media to make changes in their communities. “A change in mindset is a change in mentality that inevitability changes life styles. pg

Mexican organized groups, or “cartels”, produce a quasi-political discourse- a form of narco propaganda. Narco propaganda is not a fully formed political ideology but is an important part of public discourse in Mexico (though data is mysterious and ambiguous). The mysteriousness of narco-propaganda gives it even more power. Narco-propaganda is a discourse directed at

Suicide has long been a part of society. By definition suicide is “the intentional taking of one's own life” (dictionary.com). Currently, there is a negative stigma associated with suicide, and the individuals that commit suicide are often stereotyped as depressed or in an unstable mental state. Despite society’s perspective, there are many different reasons for suicide. In “Suicide”, other reasons are brought to attention. Émile Durkheim’s, the author of this article, main argument in this study is that suicide is a general and broad term that can be broken down to form different and distinct categories. This concept is shown through three types of suicide: altruistic, egoistic, and most importantly anomic.

Anomic suicide is the absence of the social control. It almost as if there is a perception of separation from society and the sense of not being included which can then lead to a depleted social unity. Anomic suicide may occur during periods of economic, social, or political change. However, when situations are constantly changing in relation to economic and social changes there is a possibility that individuals are more likely to commit suicide. Durkheim asserted that there is an association between a society's suicide rate and the way society functions. Industrial and financial crises, for example, increase the suicide rate, this in fact can contribute to the crises of the economy. However, the increase in suicide isn’t because of poverty in which there can be periods of economic growth and can also lead to increasing rates of suicide. What I don’t understand how there can be an increase in suicides when there is a financial crisis with the economy and when there is economic growth. I would have expected that there would be a decrease in suicides during the period of economic growth. Can it be that there are unexpected modifications with the expectations of society. When society is regulated and then completely breaks down this is the

refer to as thwarted belongingness—a desire or need for death develops also referred to the suicidology and the clinical literature as a passive suicidal ideation. Other theorists of suicide have also proposed and indicate that social isolation play a central role in developing the desire of committing suicide, though the proposed mechanisms for the association between social separation and conflicted social interaction and suicide differ across the theoretical

Suicide, to Durkheim, is “an exaggerated form of ordinary practices,” and they arise from “comparable states of mind” in people, with the only difference between daily and suicidal behavior being the “chance of death” (Durkheim 20-21). Durkheim spends the majority of the work dissecting the “apparent motives” for suicide (Durkheim 151) and observing the varieties of suicide, a feat made difficult by the inaccurate reporting and misunderstandings of investigators. Thus, to understand the types of suicide, we must “reverse the order of our research” for “There can only be as many different types of suicide as there are differences in the causes from which they derive,” (Durkheim 149). He says “if they were all found to have the same essential characteristics, they would be grouped in one class” but “observations that we would need to have are more or less impossible obtain” (Durkheim

Loneliness, health defects, struggling economically, the death of a loved one, or a failed reasons, are many reasons to feel distraught and emotional, but some people take it as reasons one might potentially think of committing suicide. Suicide is everywhere. Although many people see a person committing suicide as a personal act, someone else thought differently. Emile Durkheim was considered one of the “Founding Thinkers of Society.” Durkheim was extremely interested in the finding out what holds society together, he focused on the shared experiences, perspectives, values, beliefs, and behaviors that allow people to feel that they are a part of a group that is capable of working together to maintain the group and their common interests. Durkheim wrote a book titled “Suicide,” in which he concluded that there are four different types of suicides. One of these different types of suicides was known as ‘Anomie Suicide,’ which can be described as normlessness, not having a set of norms so people fail to understand what's expected of them.This concept refers to how societal change, or the perception one has of it, can cause one to feel disconnected from society due to the changes in norms, values, and expectations. Thus, causing one to go in a state of physical and emotional depression.

Egoistic Suicide – happens when people feel totally detached from society. Here the rates of social integration are low and so values, beliefs and traditions and sentiments were not held common by the members. Ordinary people are integrated in society by their social roles, attached in family, has a high connection to community and other social bonds. So, people who committed egoistic suicide thinks he is alone and no one thinks that he is important he loses hope to live because for example, he loses his family members or friends. Elderly people who lose these ties are the most susceptible to egoistic

— Durkheim, (1897) Egoistic suicide reflects a deep sense of not belonging, of not feeling part of a community, an experience, an absence that can give rise to apathy and depression. A result of a separation from the community and a breakdown of social integration... Durkheim discovered was that of single males were more likely to commit suicide than their married piers Altruistic suicide Durkheim stated that in an altruistic society there would be little reason for people to commit suicide... He stated one exception, namely when the individual is expected to kill themselves on behalf of society – a primary example being the soldier in military