In five pages society as it pertains to Emile Durkheim's theories is examined with such topics as traditional to modern transition, deviance, crime, and suicide discussed. Three sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: JR7_RAdrkheim.doc
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logical and understandable manner. He argues that, in regards to evolution of society, mankind has gone from a position of mechanical solidarity to one of organic solidarity: "In pre-modern societies,
people are grouped in small geographic communities where each member carries out the same types of tasks for their own survival. These societies are unified by their degree of homogeneity
and some sort of extrinsic or artificial means which binds them socially, such as a shared belief system or religion. Modern societies have evolved into more concentrated, larger urban populations
whose members have differentiated and perform specialized tasks. This development results in societies which Durkheim characterizes by organic solidarity" (Schram; Shdaimah Corey1.html). What Durkheim means in this is that
social solidarity is quite natural and actually inherent in human nature. In the members of any given modern society the individuals have become independent and "therefore the society no longer
requires mechanical means of solidarity. Furthermore, societies which are so bound leave more freedom to the individual because they are no longer threatened by heterogeneity in the same way that
pre-modern society is" (Schram; Shdaimah Corey1.html). It would seem, from the above, that organic solidarity is an improvement over the previous form of solidarity in terms of society in
general. But, according to Durkheims theorizing, it is not necessarily a beneficial transition at all. Through this movement to individuality, and organic solidarity society has lost some very important elements
that lead to various forms of deviancy in the eyes of society. As we are no longer a whole, designed or bent on remaining together for a variety of reasons,
many are left to their own devices, which are not always sufficient for societys ideals. Schram and "Durkheims comparative analysis of suicide shows that modernity is ambiguously beneficial to