SOC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Symbolic Interactionism, Scientific Method, Antipositivism
Document Summary
Let"s look at suicide and consider how each theoretical perspective interprets its causes. Suicide: the act of intentionally taking one"s own life. Non-sociological views: explanations of suicide usually focus on the individual and therefore are not very sociological. Suggests that suicide is most likely when societies are breaking down, not properly integrated. No norms to make people part of collective. People are isolated, experience angst, see life as meaningless. View described in emile durkheim"s famous book suicide. Drastic change in social norms, may lead to higher rates of suicide. Canadian inuits: highest suicide rate in the world. A functional explanation suggests this is because their societies have collapsed recently, presently in flux and non-functional. Experienced a lot of negative changes, invasions, experienced a lot of changes, that destroyed their waves of life. Says suicide is shaped by inequalities and domination. Dominated/subordinate should be more likely to commit suicide. Still, suicide is frequently higher among dominant groups.
