Suicide

Question 1

What was Durkheim’s aim when studying suicide?

Answer 1

Aim of showing that sociology is a science

Question 2

What approach did Durkheim use?

Answer 2

Official statistics

Question 3

What did Durkheim claim to have discovered?

Answer 3

The causes of suicide

Question 4

What was involved in the causes of suicide?

Answer 4

How effectively society assimilated individuals and regulated their behaviour

Question 5

What do Interactionists reject?

Answer 5

They reject Durkheim’s positivist view, reliance on official stats

Question 6

What do Interactionists argue?

Answer 6

To understand suicide, you must study its meaning for those who choose to commit

Question 7

Who takes an interactionist approach to suicide?

Answer 7

Jack Douglas

Question 8

What is Douglas critical of?

Answer 8

The use of official suicide statistics

Question 9

What does Douglas believe about official suicide statistics?

Answer 9

They are socially constructed

Question 10

What can be learnt via the social construction of official suicide statistics?

Answer 10

It tells them about the activities of those who construct them > the real crime/suicide rate

Question 11

Who constructs official suicide statistics?

Answer 11

Police (In case of crime)
Coroners (In case of suicide)

Question 12

How does a death come to be officially labelled?

Answer 12

Via interactions, negotiations between social actors

Question 13

What does negotiations between social actors mean?

Answer 13

Assumptions about their death

Question 14

Who can be the social actors?

Answer 14

Coroners, relatives, friends, doctors

Question 15

Relatives

What is an example for Suicide?

Answer 15

Relatives may feel guilty about failing to prevent suicide
= verdict of misadventure > suicide

Question 16

Coroner

What is an example for Suicide?

Answer 16

Orthodox religious coroner may be reluctant to bring in a suicide verdict

Question 17

Why may an orthodox corner be reluctant regarding a suicide verdict?

Answer 17

The belief that suicide is a sin

Question 18

What don’t statistics tell us?

Answer 18

X about the meaning behind why an individual commits suicide

Question 19

What does Douglas use instead, to understand why people commit?

Answer 19

Qualitative methods

Question 20

What is involved in qualitative methods?

Answer 20

Analysis of suicide notes
Unstructured interviews

Question 21

Who would researchers have Unstructured interviews with?

Answer 21

Deceased’s friends, relatives, suicide attempt survivors

Question 22

What would these qualitative methods help?

Answer 22

To ‘get behind’ the labels which coroners attach to deaths