Social Meanings of Suicide / / Jack D. Douglas.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton Legacy Lib. eBook Package 1931-1979
• VerfasserIn: Douglas, Jack D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2015]; ©1967
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library ; 1242
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (414 p.)

This book presents a review and criticism of all sociological literature on suicide, from Emile Durkheim's influential Suicide (1897) to contemporary writings by sociologists who have patterned their own work on Durkheim's. Douglas points out fundamental weaknesses in the structural-functional study of suicide, and offers an alternative theoretical approach. He demonstrates the unreliability of official statistics on suicide and contends that Durkheim's explanations of suicide rates in terms of abstract social meanings are founded on an inadequate and misleading statistical base. The study of suicidal actions, Douglas argues, requires an examination of the individual's own construction of his actions. He analyzes revenge, escape, and sympathy motives; using diaries, notes, and observers' reports, he shows how the social meanings of actual cases should be studied.Originally published in 1967.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part I. The Durkheimian Approach to Suicide -- 1. The Historical Context of Durkheim's Theory of Suicide -- 2. Durkheim's Suicide -- Part II. The Post-Durkheimian Sociological Theories of Suicide -- 3. Introduction to the Post-Durkheimian Theories -- 4. The Gibbs and Martin Status Integration Theory of Suicide -- 5. Powell's Status and Anomie Theory of Suicide -- 6. The Ecological Theories of Suicide -- 7. The Status Change Theories of Suicide -- 8. Halbwachs' Subculture Theory of Suicide -- 9. The Henry and Short Theory of Suicide -- 10. Gold's Theory of Suicide -- 11. A Summary of the Weaknesses and Contributions of Sociological Works on Suicide -- Part III. Official Statistics on Suicide and Their Use in Sociological Works -- 12. The Nature and Use of the Official Statistics on Suicide -- Part IV. Suicidal Actions as Socially Meaningful Actions -- 13. Social Actions as Meaningful Actions: Fundamental Considerations of the Nature of "Meaning" -- 14. The Construction of Social Meanings -- 15. Sources of Information and the Construction of a Theory of Suicidal Actions as Socially Meaningful Actions -- 16. General Dimensions of the Meanings of Suicidal Phenomena -- 17. Common Patterns of Meanings Constructed in Which the Meanings of Suicidal Actions are of Fundamental Importance -- 18. The Suicidal Process -- 19. General Conclusion -- Appendix I. Durkheim's Theory of the Relations Between the Individual and Society and Suicide -- Appendix II. The Formal Definitions of Suicide -- Bibliography -- Index