Essay

Emile Durkheim was a French philosopher, who was born on 15 April, 1858. Durkheim's theory of 'suicide' is related in various ways to his study of the division of labor and solidarity. It is also linked with the theory of 'social constraint'. Durkheim has established the view that there are no societies in which suicide does not occur. The reasoning of why people commit suicide is known only to the individual themselves. We can theorize, test, and even try to distort the situation to try to find the answers, but all we are doing is theorizing. We will never know what was really going through the persons head at the moment of the act of suicide. Emile Durkheim's definition of suicide was the death ensuing directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the sufferer himself. Durkheim theorized four main types of suicide, all being society's fallback. The four type of suicide that he discussed are Egoistic, Altruistic, anomic, and Fatalistic.

The first type of suicide is Egoistic. The definition for egoistic suicide is described as a state in which the ties attaching the individual to others in the society are weak. Egoistic suicide happens when people feel totally detached from society. Ordinarily, people are integrated into society by work roles, ties to family and community, and other social bonds. When these bonds are weakened through retirement or loss of family and friends, it's more likely for that person to commit suicide. Widowed, single and divorced people are the most susceptible to egoistic suicide because people feel disconnected or alone.

The Second type of suicide is Altruistic. The definition for Altruistic suicide is a state in which the ties attaching the individual to the group are such that the person has no life beyond the group. For example, the member of a military unit: the first quality of soldiers is a sense of selflessness. Soldiers must be trained to place little value on the self and to sacrifice themselves for the unit and its larger purpose.

The third type of suicide is Anomic. The definition for Anomic suicide is a resulting from a lack of normative integration; in such a situation, individuals feel rootless and disconnected from