Durkheim's Suicide Theory: Material Strain Explained
The quote from Durkheim's "Suicide: A Study in Sociology" highlights a critical situation where changes in material circumstances, whether positive ('uplift') or negative ('downswing'), disrupt an individual's normal patterns and lead to 'strained expectations'.
Identifying Anomic Suicide
- Anomic suicide, as defined by Durkheim, occurs during periods of rapid social change or deregulation. In such times, social norms become weak or unclear, leaving individuals feeling adrift without proper guidance.
- The strain on 'habitual expectations' mentioned in the quote directly relates to this breakdown of social regulation. When the economic or material conditions change suddenly, the established rules and expectations for behavior and success become unstable.
- This state of normlessness, or anomie, creates a feeling of uncertainty and distress, increasing the risk of anomic suicide.
Distinguishing from Other Suicide Types
- Fatalistic suicide is linked to oppressive regulation and excessive control.
- Egoistic suicide results from a lack of social integration and belonging.
- Altruistic suicide stems from excessive social integration, where the individual is overly bound to the group.
The quote's focus on the disruption of expectations due to changes in material circumstances aligns specifically with the concept of anomie and thus, anomic suicide.
Important Questions from Classical Sociological Theory
- Fill in the blank with the CORRECT option.
The term ________ was coined by Francis Galton in 1883. It promotes positive selection of people with particular genes who are thought to be intelligent and negative selection of people considered to be inferior or defective. Match Talcott Parsons' functional pre-requisites in Column I with the associated social institutions in Column II.
Column I Column II Functional Pre-requisites Institution M Adaptation 1 Religion N Goal attainment 2 Law O Integration 3 Government P Latency 4 Economy - This founder of the Lucknow Department of Economics and Sociology called upon the discipline of Sociology “to combat the tyranny of Economics”. He argued, ‘No choice in the economic field can be appropriate or “rational” which is inconsistent with human norms and values in political, familial and other fields of man's institutional life.' Identify this sociologist from the following options:
In Das Kapital, Volume 1, Marx states that exchange value of three different commodities such as corn, iron and linen ________________
In the Economic and Political Manuscripts of 1844, Marx states that alienation occurs ________________
