{"title":"Revisiting Durkheim: Social Integration and Suicide Clusters in U.S. Counties, 2006–2019","authors":"Jessica Brantez, Jason N. Houle","doi":"10.1177/21568693231195940","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Research dating back to Durkheim’s Suicide has linked high suicide rates to low social integration. Less research has examined community vulnerability to suicide clusters—characterized by an unusually high number of suicides in a time and place. In this study, we draw from recent qualitative research to hypothesize that social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters, in contrast to the classic Durkheimian hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, we examine the association between three measures of social integration (divorce, Catholic adherence, and residential stability) and a novel measure of suicide clusters in 469 U.S. counties from 2006 to 2019 using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS). We find that while social integration is negatively associated with suicide rates, social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters. These findings shed light on the dual nature of social integration as both potentially protective and harmful for suicide.","PeriodicalId":46146,"journal":{"name":"Society and Mental Health","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Society and Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21568693231195940","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Research dating back to Durkheim’s Suicide has linked high suicide rates to low social integration. Less research has examined community vulnerability to suicide clusters—characterized by an unusually high number of suicides in a time and place. In this study, we draw from recent qualitative research to hypothesize that social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters, in contrast to the classic Durkheimian hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, we examine the association between three measures of social integration (divorce, Catholic adherence, and residential stability) and a novel measure of suicide clusters in 469 U.S. counties from 2006 to 2019 using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS). We find that while social integration is negatively associated with suicide rates, social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters. These findings shed light on the dual nature of social integration as both potentially protective and harmful for suicide.
期刊介绍:
Official journal of the ASA Section on the Sociology of Mental Health. Society and Mental Health (SMH) publishes original and innovative peer-reviewed research and theory articles that link social structure and sociocultural processes with mental health and illness in society. It will also provide an outlet for sociologically relevant research and theory articles that are produced in other disciplines and subfields concerned with issues related to mental health and illness. The aim of the journal is to advance knowledge in the sociology of mental health and illness by publishing the leading work that highlights the unique perspectives and contributions that sociological research and theory can make to our understanding of mental health and illness in society.