今回は、フランスの社会学者デュルケームの「自殺論」と「アノミー」について。デュルケームは、性別・宗教・年齢などで自殺がどのように変わってくるか、を調べた有名な学者です。学問は、本来は原典を読むことで理解を深めるのが正しいアプローチですが、多忙なビジネスマンは手っ取り早く結論を知りたいと思います。そういう方は、Wikipediaで調べるとよいでしょう。大学生で時間に余裕がある方は、原典を読みましょう。日本語訳もされています。

◆英単語、表現
altruistic : 利他的な
upheaval : 持ち上げること、〔社会・経済・生活などの〕大混乱、大変動、激変
choke : 窒息させる
oppressive : 〔支配者が〕圧政的な、暴虐的な

A: Have you read Émile Durkheim's Suicide: A Study in Sociology?

B: No, I haven't. What is it about?

A: It's a book Durkheim wrote in 1897, which was the first methodological study of a social fact in the context of society. It's a case study of suicide that identifies four types of suicide based on the degrees of imbalance of two social forces: social integration and moral regulation.

B: That sounds interesting. What are the four types?

A: The first type is egoistic suicide, which results from an individual's prolonged sense of not belonging in a community. The second type is altruistic suicide, characterized by a sense of being overwhelmed by a group's goals and beliefs. The third type is anomic suicide, reflecting an individual's moral confusion and lack of social direction related to dramatic social and economic upheaval. And the fourth type is fatalistic suicide, which occurs when a person is excessively regulated and their passions are choked by oppressive discipline.

B: That's quite comprehensive. Did Durkheim find any factors that influence suicide rates?

A: Yes, he did. He found that suicide rates are higher among men than women, among Protestants than Catholics and Jews, among soldiers than civilians, and in times of peace than in times of war. He also concluded that higher education levels increase the likelihood of suicide but that an individual's religion has a greater correlation with suicide rates than their education level.

B: That's interesting. What about anomie? What does Durkheim say about it?

A: Durkheim defines anomie as a social condition characterized by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards, or guidance for individuals to follow. It can lead to a breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community, resulting in normlessness. He suggested that Protestants exhibit a greater degree of anomie than Catholics and introduced the concept in his 1893 work The Division of Labour in Society.