Suicide: a Review of Japan

Durkheim proceeded to distinguish suicide into four different groups that related to the individual’s integration into society and in turn the social regulation of society over its members. ‘Consequently, we shall be able to determine the social types of suicide by classifying them not directly by their preliminarily described characteristics, but by the causes which produce them…. We will first seek the social conditions responsible for them; then group these conditions in a number of separate classes by their resemblances and differences, and we shall be sure that a specific type of suicide will correspond to each of these classes.’ (Durkheim, 1897) The four suicide groups were identified as Egotistic, Anomic, Altruistic and Fatalistic.

Feelings of isolation have been linked to higher suicide rates. Durkheim’s study on suicide during the industrial revolution supports this theory as he states that, “people were increasingly disconnected from their communities and that this social upheaval had a greater effect on suicide rates than other factors like wealth” (Winner & Collishaw, 2011). Interestingly enough, despite the increase of media attention on suicide, no studies have been published that explain why suicide rates vary among different groups. However, various factors are involved in the decision to commit suicide. As a result, suicide rates vary according to race, gender and age.

The bottom was characterize as a large black neighborhood in Ohio, that stood above the hill of Medallion was a predominately white wealthy community. Before it was call the Bottom, now they call it the suburbs. Consequently, a good slave master promised freedom and piece of land if the slave perform difficult chores, when they finish the work he was hastens about giving away valley land he hope to give away piece of the bottom. However, the slave thought the valley land was the bottom, the master told them when God look down, it's the bottom, it the bottom of heaven best land there is. And they agree to it, And it was done. Shadrack was a citizen of the bottom, he fought in WWI, return back as a damaged man that couldn't cope with reality of what was happening in the world, his mental state of mind was unstable he live around the border of the town to find harmony in his life.

The third key idea is the gender gap. The text defines the gender gap of suicide by explaining that even though women have a higher rate of suicide attempts, men have a higher rate of suicidal deaths. This term was well defined in the article and the information given with it was presented substantially. The authors put together convincing statistics, although one source that was associated with multiple statistics was from 1997, which brings to question the validity of those statistics in today’s rapidly- changing society; almost 20 years later.

According to the American Psychological Association, and based on the national suicide rates in 2007, suicide was the 8th leading cause of death for Asian-Americans, and the 11th leading cause of death for all racial and ethnic groups combined. The second leading cause of death for Asian-Americans between the ages 15-34 was suicide. Among all Asian-Americans, 20-24 year olds had the highest suicide rates of all (Heron, M. 2011). Above all, Asian women have a higher suicide rate than males (Xu, J.2010). A significant amount of research and many studies of suicide among Asian Americans reveal many factors that play a role in these high numbers.

Suicide is defined as “The action of killing oneself intentionally” within both South Korea and Wales. Suicide is seen as a huge social issue in both Wales and South Korea, both countries have seen a huge rise in suicide rates in the last decade but South Korea disproportionately sees a higher rate of suicide. Both countries are experiencing a rise in suicide rates and so, suicide is seen as a huge social issue, with government and non governmental bodies aiming to combat it. In my investigation I will not only be researching who this issue affects and what issues seem to be the main cause for the growth in suicide rates, but also responses and ways people have tried to tackle this problem. To do this I will have to follow my aims, which

Every suicide effects more than the individual’s life, in truth it impacts families, communities and economic well-being of our nation. According, Piscopo, Lipari, Cooney, and Glasheen, (2016) “Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States and a tragedy for all involved—families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities. In 2014, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States overall.1 Among people aged 10 to 34, suicide was the second highest cause of death, and for those aged 35 to 54, it was the fourth highest cause of death” (p. 2).

This is a critical appraisal of the article A Tool for the Culturally Competent Assessment of Suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) Measure with the purpose of improving my research and critical reading skills.

In The Politics of Suicide, Maria Teresa Brancaccio, Eric J. Engstrom, and David Lederer investigate and unravel the conceptualization and operationalization of suicide in the years leading up the Emile Durkheim. It wasn’t until the age of the Enlightenment that the concept of taking one’s own life was deemed worthy of scientific analysis (Brancaccio, Engstrom, & Lederer, 2013). It was during this time that police, physicians, and mental health care providers began to determine the indicators of such potential behaviors and began to see such rising trends as modern social dilemma (2013).

Durkheim does not see egoism, altruism, anomie and fatalism as types of suicide, but types of social structure that highlight the presence or lack of integration and regulation. It must be stressed that this excess/lack of integration and regulation are not seen as direct causes of suicide, rather Durkheim sees a number of voluntary deaths in society as inevitable; integration and regulation are merely prophylactic to suicidal impulses, which when taken to excess or dramatically reduced, fail to act as a preventative, and so suicides occur. This clarification is an important strength of Durkheim’s theory: it allows the biography of the individuals who kill themselves to vary, while still explaining underlying pressures/lack of to explain their deaths, and the varying suicide rates between groups.

Yet, suicide also affects different kinds of individuals which happen to be of distinct racial and ethnic status. The socioeconomic status also plays a role in determining the individuals who commit suicide. In the article “Suicide and the Creative Class,” it states the following, “Thus, different groups will be more or less likely to commit suicide. These differences make suicide an important area of study for social scientists because of its prevalence, preventability, and the wide sweeping effects that it has on family, friends, and acquaintances of suicide victims” (Moore, Recker, & Heirigs, 2014). Thus, implicating the pressures of society and the differences of social status.

When we think of someone committing suicide, we assume that the person committing the act must have been dealing with psychological issues, or was suffering from mental illness. Very rarely do we attribute societal factors to a person’s decision to end their life. However, the French scholar Émile Durkheim made this connection. Durkheim saw a correlation between social conditions and suicide (Appelrouth and Edles, 2016). Consequently, he conducted a study on suicide, from which he determined that suicide was a result of anomie and egoism. In an analysis of The New York Times article, “In Unit Stalked by Suicide, Veterans Try to Save One Another” by Dave Phillips, one can apply the theories of

According to the interview, the reason for Asian-American women related to a suicide rate that the Asian culture one of the reasons to put pressure how to depression. The Asian cultural is a very high expectation of achievement, but never have an encouragement to support when becoming failure. When it come stress, they never speak out to seek help for available services. Moreover, the struggle of the second generation of Asian-American adjusts the environment of the two culture of how they trained in traditional culture. Last, the experience of the guests gets help with mental service of therapy in curing depression.

Traditionally, suicide was thought to be a purely individual decision but French sociologist Emile Durkheim recognized that the phenomenon had a social dimension. He believed in the influence of society on the individual and that if anything can explain that relation, it is suicide. His use of the data of suicide, not specific cases and reports, to study the societal trends reveals his true subject of study: society as a whole and its role in the individual experience. Durkheim uses the study of suicide via the quantitative methodological approach as a tool to study society as a broader whole.

Japan has always been one of the great powers of the world. It has one of the highest economies globally and that is due to the efficiency and perseverance of the Japanese workers. However, it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world which makes it sound abnormal for such a successful country. It reached 19.5 suicides among every 100,000 Japanese. In addition, In 2003, 34,000 lives were lost to suicide and the number decreased till it reached 21,897 suicides in 2016 which is still not a number to be celebrated. Japan suicide rate may be high as many Japanese suffer from financial problems. However, to explain the “Why” we need to look at Japan’s Religions which open possibilities to commit suicide.