The Importance of Emile Durkheim's Studies

Sociology is the study of how people react to their social group. When studying sociology you have to be able to research one a group of people or an individual on their behavior and what they think. That is exactly what Emile Durkheim did.

Emile Durkheim was one of many French sociologists was interested in sociology and some philosophy. One of the biggest studied he conducted was why people committed suicide and what caused it. He had many other studies and believed that sociology plays a part of how we act in situations. Which he believed could play a part in why people do commit suicide.

When Emile Durkheim's was younger, Ashley Crossman said that his family were Jewish and had sent him to a religious school to learn his faith. However, he did not want his religion to be forced upon him and would rather learn it from a scientific approach. Even when he was growing up he was interested in sociology and studying people. According to Ashley Crossman, “His views could not get him a major academic appointment in Paris (. . . ). In 1885 he left for Germany (. . . ). It resulted in the publication of numerous articles (... ) which gained recognition in France, earning him a teaching appointment at the University of Bordeaux in 1887. ” (Ashley Crossman, 2018, P. 1). One of the most interesting studies he had was the study of suicide and how social interactions can play a major part in it. According to Lise Thibodeaua and James Lachaud, “Less integration and regulation due to abrupt changes during economic crises makes the society unable to exert its social regulation over individuals, and thus suicide rates rise accordingly. ” (Lise Thibodeaua & James Lachaud, 2016, P. 310) For example, if you have a big group of friends then you are more likely to not commit suicide because these people that you interact with can impact our behavior and the choices that we make so not having these social interactions can also affect our choices in a negative way and can lead you to harm yourself. Emile Durkheim wanted to put his theory to the test so he looked at different types of religion.

He focused more on Protestants and Catholics throughout his study. Catholics are a branch of Christianity they have more “rules” they have stronger beliefs about certain things and the bible tells them about God. However, Protestants are also a branch of Christianity but instead of them preaching about the bible they get to render it themselves. His prediction was according to Jon Witt “Protestants’ increased individual's autonomy reflects reduced levels of social integration, leading Durkheim to predict that Protestants would be more likely to commit suicide than Catholics. ” (Jon Witt, 2016, P. 9) Emile Durkheim wanted to test this theory of seeing if suicide varied so he did research in three different countries by looking at their suicide rates and seeing if they have close in numbers or completely different. Jon Witt was explaining how Emile Durkheim concluded that since Denmark had a higher rate of Protestants in their country that it was why they had a higher suicide rate as well. Although that was not the only factor he looked at. he also considered individuals marriage status, if they have had children or not, and their sex because that also can affect their behavior.

Overall, the studies that Emile Durkheim did were important because it explains and tells why people commit suicide. Not only that but it is also important because we still use his study in sociology today by studying social groups and interactions. We can see a difference in people who are more social and people who are more independent and it plays a role in our daily lives by affecting our behavior and thoughts.