Research Paper on:
Emile Durkheim's Suicide and the Response of Anthony Giddens

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of human social activities". In doing this, Giddens offers a more expansive and open method in the study of society and institutions in which he hopes will offer an alternative  to many of the traditional sociological methods used. Emile Durkheim in his study on "Suicide" provided one of the first systematic presentations of suicide as a sociological phenomenon. Consistent with  the functionalist theories however, Durkheim offered three definitions of suicide, egoistic, altruistic and anomic, which were all functional aspects of society. Giddens believed that the functionalist argument could not possibly  account for the various factors influencing suicide and within his argument and general dismisses much of Durkheims definitions. He also presents other misunderstandings and controversies which surrounded Durkheims study on  suicide which somewhat validate his claim that the functionalist perspective is not complete in its relation to the discussion of suicide. Emile Durkheims  work on suicide relates to its inter-connectiveness with social and natural phenomenon but its basic theme rests on that idea that "suicide which appears to be a phenomenon relating to  the individual is actually explicable aetiologically with reference to the social structure and ramifying functions" (Durkheim 13). For Durkheim, suicides cannot be explained on an individual basis and suicide rates  which are used to record suicides are in themselves a distinct phenomenon which can be used to examine societies. Furthermore, Durkheim separated suicide into three categories which he found when  studying the religious affiliation, marriage, families and politics in communities which were egoistic suicide; altruistic suicide and anomic suicide (Durkheim 14). Egoistic suicide is that which results from an individuals  lack of integration in society. Lower rates of egoistic suicide are recorded in Catholic societies which tends to place more emphasis on community life and higher in Protestant societies where