Heavily influenced by Max Weber, Peter Berger was interested in the meaning of social structures. Berger’s concern with the meaning societies give to the world is apparent throughout his book The Sacred Canopy (1967), in which he drew on the sociology of knowledge to explain the sociological roots of religious beliefs. His main goal is to convince readers that religion is a historical product, it is created by us and has the power to govern us. Society is a human product. Berger made it very clear from the beginning, that society is a dialectic phenomenon; it was produced by us and in return, produced us too.
In 1897 Emile Durkheim wrote the book Suicide, where he tried to find the different causes that compel people to commit suicide. He remarked that it can be hard to find the causes for suicide, since they (people who commit suicide) can think of themselves acting with a sound mind, when in fact they are experiencing some kind of a breakdown (Durkheim, 1897, p. 146). Durkheim believed that regulation, integration and the different cultural institutions in society, affected the suicide rate of a country. This he argues, by analyzing statistics of different european countries, and implements his own theory upon it - some might say his theory of how social control affects the suicide rate, is dated, but his reasoning is sound and this paper will try to show it as such. Definition of Durkheims
Moreover, it has been estimated that there are 8 to 25 attempted suicides for every 1 successful suicide (MedicineNet 2011). The shocking number of suicide attempts and deaths highlight the urgent necessity for prevention efforts. The purpose of this critical analysis will be to explore Emile Durkheim’s theory of suicide; early interpretations, literature review of the birth of the theory, impact of the theory and contemporary issues related to suicide, while exploring the current knowledge available on suicide, through an objective lens. ANALYSIS
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Max Weber (1864-1920) are widely considered as two of the “founding fathers” of sociology. They are important for their contribution to understanding society. A great deal of their contributions have had a lasting impact into how sociological studies are conducted. The difference between these two sociologist is their theoretical perspectives. Unlike Weber who belonged to the interpretive perspective, Durkheim belonged to the functionalist perspective.
Emile Durkheim thought that society was multifaceted system of consistent and co-dependent parts that work together to maintain stability. One important thing that Durkheim believed held society together was social facts. He thought that social facts consisted of feeling, acting, and thinking externally from the person and coercive power over that person. These things could include social institutions, rules, values, and norms. They have control over an individual’s life.
Weber defines the protestant ethic as the morals and values that Protestantism promotes. They include working hard and living an ascetic and frugal life. He believed that this ethic led to an attitude that was successful under capitalism. This so called spirit of capitalism consisted of an individual to have a vocation, work hard at it to make money, and find ways to make more money. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism is Weber’s explanation on why “modernization” and industrialization occurred specifically in Europe.
Capitalism is understood to be the “economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.” In modern society, capitalism has become the dominant economic system and has become so integrated that it has resulted in a change in the relationships individuals have with other members of society and the materials within society. As a society, we have become alienated from other members of society and the materials that have become necessary to regulate ourselves within it, often materials that we ourselves, play a role in producing. Capitalism has resulted in a re-organization of societies, a more specialized and highly segmented division of labour one which maintains the status quo in society by alienating the individual. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim theorize on how power is embodied within society and how it affects the individuals of society.
The Creation of Society Through the Lens of Durkheim and Rousseau There are various theories across the spectrum of the social sciences that address the birth of society. The focus of this essay will be on two French sociologists, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Émile Durkheim who share different ideas of how the creation of society came about. Durkheim was a functionalist who has very fundamental views on the formation of society. Durkheim theorizes that society is natural and happens through shared experiences. He believes that society makes the individual “whole” by providing them with knowledge.
The concept has been widely used by sociologists since. Anome is a French word which means normlessness or a state without rules or regulations. One of Durkheim 's most famous studies was concerned with the analysis of suicide. Durkheim showed that social factors employ a fundamental influence on suicidal behaviour. Durkheim defined suicide as "every case of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act performed by the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result" (Aragwal, 2012).
In this essay I will compare and contrast Marx and Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Firstly I will provide a brief outline of Marx’s theories relating to social change and capitalism. I will then briefly outline Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Finally I will give my own critique of the theories outlining which one I prefer and the reasons for my choice.
Compared to countries outside Hong Kong, China, America, Singapore, Japan and Korean also find out the suicidal rate of elderly were also higher than any other people in different age group. Although sociologisit Emile Durkheim thinks that the suicide rates for a society typically shows a stable distribiution from year to year, there are always identification of periodic fluctuations and patterns of suicide
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF EMILE DURKHEIM’S THEORY OF SUICIDE Emile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 -15 November, 1917) was a French sociologist and is mostly famous for his monograph the theory of Suicide (1897). He is also a French sociologist, social psychologist and a philosopher and has formally established the academic discipline and is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology. His most important work was apparently a case study of suicide which is a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Protestant populations, founded modern social research and served to distinguish social science from psychology and political philosophy. If we have a look at the suicide statistics it is known that precisely, 11.1 out of every 100,000 people have died by suicide (WHO 2011).
Durkheim insisted, this rate was both permanent (the rate for any individual society was less variable than that of most other leading demographic data, including the general mortality rate) and variable (the rate for each society was sufficiently peculiar to that society as to be more characteristic of it than its general mortality rate); and, just as the first would be inexplicable were it not "the result of a group of distinct characteristics, solidary with one another, and simultaneously effective in spite of different attendant circumstances," so the second proved "the concrete and individual quality of these same characteristics, since they vary with the individual character of society itself." (1897b: 51). Thus Durkheim concluded, each society is predisposed to contribute a definite quota of suicides; and it was this predisposition which Durkheim proposed to study sociologically.
Durkheim, thus wishes to be more scientific in his approach and wants to observe moral facts that are constantly changing to formulate sociological theories as opposed to just accepting a set of “ideal type” morals that were formed at a specific
Social inequality always was and still is an issue of the high concern among the scholars and sociology researchers. This phenomenon has existed throughout the complete history of the development of society. Moreover, it causes active discussions about why it exists, what factors contribute to its development, and how the society was regarding this problem within different historical periods. In consideration of the relationships between the slaves and masters in antiquity, peasants and landlords in feudalism, and workers and capitalists in capitalism, it is possible to state that class inequality has always existed and is one of the ground foundations of the society. Max Weber and Karl Marx both devoted their work to the explanation of the
