The spread of Suicide
Communism and the Spread of Suicide
According
to Emile Durkheim (1951), suicide was considered as one of the most intensely
individual acts, which are purely determined by biographical and psychological
factors. Variations in suicide differ
from one ethnic, religious, racial and occupational group to another. Durkheim
believed that there is a relationship between society and self and this highly
contributes to the spread of suicide. Suicide rates is an indication of the
extend to which people are not included
into the societies group of life (Durkheim, 1951). Suicide rates are higher in the communist countries due to the
dramatic effects on the communist rule on the social lifestyle.
The
massive social, economic and political changes in communism countries create
conditions of stress and instability which troubles people’s mental health. People
in these countries are unable to match with the dramatic social and political
changes which then lead to suicide.
According to Durkheim (1951), these changes are responsible for the spread of
suicide among the people in the communist countries. There is also a sense of detachment from the
society due to the profound change in lifestyle in communist countries which
becomes more detached from traditional bonds due to an increase in freedom of thought
and action. This lack of inclusion of the people leads to a low value being accorded to human existence
which then leads to high suicide rates. The occurrence of a suicide case due to
low human value was responsible for the spread of suicide among the other
people as the people would follow suit just to end their problems (Durkheim,
1951).
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The
rapid political, economic and social changes in the communist continents like
Europe in the early 90’s highly accounts for the high suicide rates among the
elderly people since they were highly impacted by the changes. According to Durkheim
(1951), people were also unable to keep up with the rapid modernization since
they were unable to adjust to the changes. As a result, people would result
into suicide. According to Durkheim, anomic suicide in communist countries is
caused by division of labor and rapid social change. An increased division of
labor in a communist country leads to a weakened sense of identification among
the people as well as a weakened social constraint on the human behavior. These conditions then lead to social “dis-integration”,
norm violation, and distrust of authority, high rates of egocentric and
consequent delegitimation as a result; people would rather die than to live
with the aftermath of the situations. This causes stress among the citizens and
this stress is responsible for the spread of suicide among the citizens (Durkheim,
1951).
Former
Soviet Union in Europe led to severe economic constraints which were then
followed by a retarded economic growth which then contributed to inequalities
in social upheaval and income. Unemployment which is caused by a rapid growth
in population and a decrease in economic stability leads to a feeling of
hopelessness among the people which then led to high risk of suicide. Spread of
hopelessness will lead to the spread of suicide in the affected country (Durkheim,
1951). High suicide cases were an
indication that the social cohesion of a particular group of people was weak
and its members were not protected during the times of personal crises. Therefore,
suicide highly varies with the degree of social integration in that particular
country.
Reference
Durkheim, Emile, (1951),
[1897]. Suicide: A Study in
Sociology. Translated by J. A. Spaulding
and G. Simpson. New York: The Free Press.
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