Research Paper On Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim is a well-known sociologist who took a whole new approach to suicide and why people do it. Sociologist Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 and died in 1917. Durkheim helped my understanding of suicide in contemporary society. He wrote a book called ‘The Study of Suicide’ which revealed that suicide can not only be a result of psychological issues but also social ones. Durkheim researched similarities between suicide victims and took things like their gender, age, relationship status, religion, employment status, etc all into account. He gathered all this information which lead to a series of patterns. People were more likely to commit suicide if they were male, older, single, unemployed and Protestant. “It is society which, fashioning us in its image, fills us with religious, political and moral beliefs that control our actions” (Durkheim, 1897). This quote comes from Durkheim’s

I found Durkheim’s case of comparing Protestants and Catholics very interesting. I would never of thought to do this when dealing with suicide. In Durkheim’s case study he paints a very clear picture to back his statement. Durkheim discusses how Protestants interpret their own meaning to the bible. From my understanding Protestants are told to take whatever meaning they can take from the bible. This can lead to people believing they have not fulfilled their life the way they understood they should. “But if the proclivity of Protestantism for suicide must thus be related to its free spirit of free inquiry, this ‘free inquiry’ itself requires explanation, for it brings as much sorrow as happiness, and thus is not intrinsically desirable”. (Durkheim, 1986). He argues how Catholics on the other hand are not given as much free interpretation of the bible, which as a result leads to less