The Sociological View Of Teenage Suicide

People who commit suicide do not really want to end their lives as many seek the attention and acceptance they so dearly want from society. Thinking along the lines of the Sociological Imagination we need to understand the social forces, or the lack thereof, that drives people to commit suicide. Emile Durkheim discovered that levels of integration into society played a big role with suicide.

Emile Durkheim was one of the most influential people to write about suicide and its causes. Suicide had previously been thought to be a moral and psychological problem whereas Durkheim related suicide to sociological problems in modern society. He believed and worked to prove that suicide was not related to individualism but linked to the effects of the external influences of modern society. External social influences upon an individual covered the broad and varied aspects such as culture, religion and family. Durkheim believed that suicide was directly related to the level of social integration and/or regulation of a person in society. He developed groups into which an individual was categorised according to their level of integration

Despite the lack of research done by sociologists on the topic of suicide, little is known about what societies perspective of it. In this research paper, the sociological aspects of suicide are going to be brought up. The way suicide deals with deviance and how a particular Sociologist studied different theories. The analyzation of four journal articles that are cited back up my answer in my research paper. My research question is, Does the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why impact societies viewpoint on the sociological issues of suicide? Providing evidence to prove this true through the general thoughts and knowledge I have cumulated in Introduction in Sociology. Oddly enough there is not much research in the general category of suicide in sociology

“Suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result” (Durkheim 34). Suicide is a phenomenon that has plagued our world since the beginning of time. It currently accounts for the second leading cause of death in people ages ten to twenty-four years old (Garni Powerpoint). This means of ending your own life is something we can prevent as a society. If we can eliminate societal pressures and stereotypes we can all be treated equally. All suicides during a certain time period are grouped together, when in all reality we should be treating each situation as it’s own. Durkheim states “...with it’s own unity, individuality, and consequently its own nature- a nature, furthermore, dominantly social”.

Suicide is defined as the act of taking one’s own life voluntarily. Sometimes, talking about this situation makes people very uncomfortable because, according to today’s society, it’s a terrifying word. For this reason, most people try to avoid this subject they are unwilling to talk about it or deal with it. Suicide has become the third leading cause of death for teenagers; the rate of suicide has increased dramatically over the years. Teenagers who commit suicide suffer from a severe case of depression, leading them to think that the only solution to end their pain is by ending their own life. The difference in gender plays a role in how one may take their life. Males usually use guns or knives to hurt themselves while females usually use pills. It’s important to take this subject seriously and try to find different solutions for this social issue by applying a variety of sociological theories including the structural functionalism, the conflict theory and the symbolic interactionist.

The first sociologist to theorize on suicide and its sociological interpretations was Emile Durkheim. Durkheim worked during the late 1800’s identifying social structures as the key determinant in self-destructive behaviour. In his work Suicide: A study in Sociology, Durkheim stated that “suicide rates increase when a society’s value system breaks down.”2 Durkheim believed that the shared values of a society and the mechanisms in place that ensure that its members adhere to these values, is interpreted as a person’s “social structure.” Durkheim suggested two basic factors in social structure that heavily influence the incidence of suicide. These are regulation and integration. He believed that an individual needs to become part of, and find direction in his own society. Without these factors in place, suicide becomes a common substitute. Teens are often anxious about fitting in to their society (especially among peer groups) so it is clear that integration is essential to adolescence. Durkheim also suggested that it is these two factors

Durkheim’s theories and work on suicide classified the phenomenon into four types; Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic and Fatalistic (Ritzer Pg 200-202). Durkheim’s concept of social integration ties into egoistic suicide as it

If you would look at it as a sociologist, what are all the variables to teen suicide? Where they gay? Were they bullied? Were they abused at home or elsewhere? Where did they grow

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.

Furthermore, social scientists have not been too involved in the topic of suicide. Since 1990-2009 there have not been many article on the topic and the disinterest can derive from the presumption that suicide is a lonesome act. The article “Suicide and the Creative Class,” states that, “Durkheim ([1897] 2006) illustrated that suicide is a social phenomenon by stating that levels of integration and

There is too much teen suicide in the United States. Many teens who are depressed have mental issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. Often, teens who have these issues feel as if they don’t belong. They don’t feel like talking about certain things going on in their life. Issues regarding sexuality, bullying, and abuse make children feel hopeless and unwanted. They feel alone. The suicide rate has gone up dramatically. There are approximately 100,000 suicides per year and 10,000 to 20,000 of them being from ages 14 to 24. Suicide is also the 3rd leading cause of death for teens.

Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally in 2012.” People who are 15-29 years olds would normally study or work in the society, so they might have had a problem about modern society. Also, the number of people who die due to suicide every year would prove that people are affected by society and have something bad problem about the society. The problems would be occurred in school or workplace, and those problems would be related to mental health such as bully, harassment and

Durkheim’s findings suggested that suicide rates vary between societies but do show regular patterns over time. He concluded that this was evidence that there are consistent social forces that influence the rate of suicide in society. In sum, Durkheim believed that for society to maintain a state of equilibrium there needs to be an appropriate degree of integration and regulation; a consequence of any imbalance is an increased rate of suicide. However, despite Durkheim’s study of society being viewed by many as a classic, it has been met

“Statistics reveal that in the US approximately...nearly one million people attempt suicide each year” ("Suicide Risk Among Abused Children."). Suicide is not an act of randomness. It is a result of prolonged feelings and/ or events, which push that person to extremes they desperately want out of. Suicide rates are amongst the highest in teens, due to their lack of support systems. During these years many are trying to find-out who they are and fit in, thus many get accepted into some people’s views, but there are also a good number that get ignored and feel like they do not belong anywhere. Teen suicide can be a result of a home-life of abuse or mistreatment, psychological disorders, and lack of social support-bullying; however, through the education on the warning signs of suicide, providing more emotional outlets at schools, and creating safer environments the number of annual victims can be decreased.

In the modern, technological society we live in today, information can be shared instantaneously. This can usually be seen as a positive, by providing much needed information to the public in times of a crisis, or joyous celebrations of achievements. However, in contrast with the positive aspects there are also negative aspects. Cyber bullying of individuals and incessant harassment of individuals online has become a major problem in societies across the world, leading to suicide of individuals. People hide behind computer screens and diminish people, by spreading rumours, photos and videos in an attempt to humiliate others. This paper will discuss the views of two components of Durkheim’s theory of suicide (Egoistic and Anomic) and how they are the most dominant forms of suicide today and how they link to the events in our current society leading to the increase in teen suicides. This theory will be used to attempt to answer why teen suicide is on the rise. Durkheim’s theories will be emphasised by relating his theory of suicide to two recent cases of teen suicide in Canada; Rehtaeh Parsons and Amanda Todd- both were cyber bullied to the point of taking their own lives. These two cases will be used as examples to reinforce the issue of teen suicide today.