Soc paper

name

September 12, 2009

class

Issue paper # 1

            Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) showed that society effects the decision to take your own life; he showed people with the most freedoms (Wealthy, Whites, and Males) tended to have the highest rates of suicide. Durkheim used the term social integration to explain that people with stronger social ties had lower rates of suicide and people who were more individualistic had higher rates. (Macionis, 2009) The suicide rate for black youths has been rising and according to Durkheim this must be caused by younger blacks becoming more individualistic and less concerned with their social ties. Suicide among college students and some professions also have high rates of suicide and Durkheim’s theory helps to explain the cause.

            American society is focused on the individual you are expected to make it own your own. According to Durkheim this can lead to high rates of suicide. African-Americans even though they have lived in America for many generations were always pushed out of the American society by whites that dominated over every aspect of society. This forced the black community to create their own culture and way of life which was different because it focused more on working together to survive and to help defend each other because all they had was each other. During the civil rights movements the black community demanded to be treated equally and fought for their rights. Even through today blacks and whites are not treated equally there has been improvement made with the rising black middle class more blacks are attending college and now pop culture is full of black celebrities. It is a start of the black population of America assimilating its self into American society. With this assimilation into society comes with it the individualistic way of thinking that is so strong in our society. The strong social ties that helped to keep the black suicide rate far below whites have weakened and there are fewer blacks that have strong ties to their community. With more black people achieving success they tend to move away from their older communities and surround themselves with people of the same economic standing which takes them out of the community they grew up in and places them in a new unfamiliar community were they may stand out in part due to their race. (Div of Violence Prevention, 1998)

            The reason many people go to college is to receive the necessary education to get a decent job and improve their lifestyle. In today’s economy in order to get a good job you must be the very best and stand out from everyone else that has applied for the position this often means doing very well in school. Many college students may see their classmates as competition for future jobs which has the potential of students isolating themselves from others thinking it may give them an advantage. A college degree has become almost necessary in America if you want to ever get a job college students are under a lot of pressure to achieve a degree of some sort because without it they know they won’t be able to find any job that is capable of supporting themselves on. The stress level of higher level classes increases the rate of suicide nationally graduates are at a higher risk then undergraduate this could be caused by the larger work load that is placed on them reduces the amount of time they have to socialize making them feel like they’re whole life revolves around school. (James R. Oelschlager) The type of degree also increases the level of stress and work load nationally science and business students have higher rates of suicides compared to liberal arts students this could be due to a large work load that reduces the opportunity to socialize. (James R. Oelschlager)

            Certain occupations have higher rates of suicide then others this could be caused by how our society looks at different jobs. A teacher is seen as a vital part of American society which would increase the individual persons feeling of self worth and reducing the possibility of suicide. If they are going dealing with issues in their personal life they made find the courage to push forward because they have a job to do such as teach the future generations. Professional occupations such as dentists have to go through years of school after which they enter into a society that looks at members of its health care system as over paid. People in America go to the dentist or doctor but they don’t really like doing it. Since most Americans look at seeking medical advice or help in a negative way people who have made working in the medical field their profession may see themselves as not as good as a doctor as they had hoped they would become. Working in the medical profession is stressful long hours and dealing with death almost daily, this can lead to people keeping an emotional distance between themselves and their patients making the professional feeling isolated from society which can lead to a lonesome feeling and possible suicide.

            The shootings at Columbine high school and Virginia Tech were a result of people who felt out of place in society. They seemed to have felt that they were outcasts and they were probably treated as such. People who dress different or may lack social skills are often rejected by the popular culture. The trenchcoat mafia of the Columbine shooting didn’t fit into the social structure of the school, their parents seemed to have no idea what the kids were going through, most of the school faculty did not pay any attention to the mafia they had low grades and were likely seen as trouble makers not as people that felt like they were being victimized by the rest of the student body. The shooters of Columbine felt like they were all alone no one would listen to them they were isolated from everyone but themselves, they also felt that they were somehow entitled to revenge for their isolation. The Virginia Tech shooter felt like he was alone but It is also possible that the way he acted towards others might have influenced his isolation. He felt isolated because he pushed others away but he blamed others for his isolation.

Works Cited

Div of Violence Prevention, N. C. (1998, March 20). MMWR. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from www.cdc.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00051591.htm

James R. Oelschlager, P. &. (n.d.). Beyond the classroom. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from The Florida Institute of technology: http://www.fit.edu/caps/documents/3.pdf

Macionis, J. J. (2009). Society. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.