22 sociology theory questions (Durkheim, Emile ).short answers

SUICIDE

mental state, renounces life for a slight insult done him or merely to express his contempt for existence; to the bankrupt who prefers not to survive his disgrace; and finally to the many soldiers who every year increase the numbers of voluntary deaths? All these cases have for their root the same state of altruism which is equally the cause of what might be called heroic suicide. Shall they alone be placed among the ranks of suicides and only those excluded whose motive is particularly pure? But first, according to what standard will the division be made? When does a. motive cease to be suffi- ciently praiseworthy' for the act it determines to be called suicide? Moreover, by separating these two classes of facts radically from each other, we inevitably misjudge their nature: For the essential characteristics of the type are clearest in obligatory altruistic suicide. Other varieties are only derivative forms. Either a considerable num- ber of instructive phenomena will be eliminated or, if not all are eliminated,· not only will a purely arbitrary choice be the only one possible among them, but it will be impossible to detect the common · stock to which those that are retained belong. Such is the risk we incur in making the definition of suicide depend on the subjective feelings it inspires.

Besides, not even the reasons for the sentiment thought to justify this exclusion are well founded. The fact is stressed that the motives of certain altruistic suicides reappear in slightly different forms as the basis of actions regarded by everyone as moral. But is egoistic suicide any different? Has not the sentiment of individual autonomy its own moi;ality as well as the opposite sentiment? If the latter serves as foundation to a kind of courage, strengthening and even harden- ing the heart, .the other softens and moves it to pity. Where alfru-· is tic suicide is prevalent, man is always ready to give his life; how- ever, at the same time, he sets no more value on that of another. On the contrary, when he rates individual personality above all other ends, he respects it in others. His cult for it makes him suffer from all that minimizes it even among his fellows. A broader sympathy - for human suffering succeeds the fanatical devotions of primitive times. Every sort of suicide is then merely the exaggerated or de- flected form of a vjrtue. In that tase, however, the way they affect the moral conscience does not sufficiently differentiate them to justify their being separated into different types.

CHAPTER 5 ANOMIC SUICIDE

~tJ_T soci~ty _is_ not. only something attracting the sentiments and . act1v.1t1es of md1V1duals with unequal force. It is also a power .con-

tro!lm~ them. There is a relation between the way this regulative action 1s performed' and the social suicide-rate.

I It is a well-known fact that economic crises have an aggravating

effect on the suicidal tendency. !n ~ienna, in 1873 a financial crisis occurred which reached its

. ?eight m 1874; the numbe~ of suicides·immediately rose. From 141 ~n 1872, _they rose to 153 10 1873 and 216 in 1874. The increase m .1874 1s 53 p~r cent 1 above 1872 e.nd 41 per cent above 1873. ~hat p~oves this . catastrophe to have been the sole cause of tlie mcrease 1s the special prominence of the increase when the crisis was acut~, or during the first four months of 1874. From January I to April_ 30 there had b~en 48 suicides. in 1871, 44 in 1872, 43 in 1873, t?~re were. 73 m 1874. The mcrease is 70 per cent.2 The

· same cr1s1s occurring at the same time in Frankfurt-on-Main pro- duced the s~me effects there. In the years before 1874, 2 2 suicides were committed annually on the average; in 1874 there were 32, or 4 5 per cent more. .

The famous crash is unforgotten which took place on the Paris Bourse during the winter of 1882. Its consequences were felt not

1 Durkheim incorrectly gives this figure as 51 per cent.-Ed. 1 Jn 1874 over 1873.-Ed.

241

SUICIDB

only in Paris but throughout France. From 1874 to 1886 the average annual increase was only 2 per cent; in 1882 it was 7 per cent. Moreover, it was unequally distributed among the different times of year, occurring principally during the first three months or at the very time of the crash. Within these three months alone 59 per cent of the total rise occurred. So distinctly is the rise the result of un- usual circumstances that it not only is not encountered in 1881 but has disappeared in 1883, although on the .whole the latter year had a few more suicides than the preceding one:

1881 1882 1883

Annual total 6,741 7,213 (plus 7%) 7,267 First three months 1,589 I, 770 ( plus 11 % ) 1,604

This relation is found not only in some exceptional cases, but is the rule. The number of bankruptcies is a barometer of adequate sensitivity, reflecting the variations of economic life. When they in- crease abruptly from yeat to year, some serious disturbance has cer- tainly occurred. From 1845 to 1869 there were sudden rises, symp- tomatic of crises, on three occasions. While the annual increase in the number of bankruptcies during this period is 3.2 per cent, it is 26 per cent in 1847, 37 per cent in 1854 and 20 per cent in 1861. At these three moments, there is also to be observed an unusually rapid rise in the number of suicides. While the average annual in- crease during these 24 years was only 2 per cent, it was 17 per cent in 1847, 8 per cent in 1854 and 9 per cent in 1861.

But to what do these crises owe their influence? Is it because they increase poverty by causing public wealth to fluctuate? Is life more readily renounced as it becomes more difficult? The explanation is seductively simple; and it agrees with the popular idea of suicide. But it is contradicted by facts.

Actually, if voluntary deaths increased because life was becoming more difficult, they should diminish perceptibly as comfort increases. Now, although when the price of the most necessary foods rises excessively, suicides generally do the same, they are not found to fall below the average in the opposite case. In Prussia, in 1850 wheat was quoted at the lowest point· it reached during the entire period of 1848-81; it was at 6.91 marks per 50 kilograms; yet at this very time suicides rose from 1,527 where they were in 1849 to 1,736, or an increase of 1 3 per cent, and continued to increase during the

ANOMIC SUICIDE 243 years 1851, 1852 and 1853 although the cheap market held. In 1858-59 a ne': fall took place; yet suicides rose from 2,038 in 18_57 to 2~126 m 1858, and to 2,146 in 1859. From 1863 to 1866 prices wluch h_ad reached 11.04_ marks in 1861 fell progressively to 7.95 marks m 1864 and remamed very reasonable for the whole .period; suicides ~uring the same time increased 17 per cent (2,1 1 2 m 1862, 2,485 m 1866) .3 Similar facts are observed in Bavaria. Accor~ing to a curve constructed by Mayr 4 for the period 1835-61, the prK~ _of rye w~s l~west during the years 1857-58 and 1858-59; now smcides, which m 1857 numbered only 286, rose: to 329 in 185_8, to 387 in 1859. The same phenomenon had already occurred ?urmg tl!e years 1848-50; at that time wheat had been very cheap m Bavaria as .well as throughout Europe. Yet, in spite of a slight temporary drop due to political events, which we have mentioned suicides. remain~d at the same level. There were 217 in 1847, ther; were still 215 in 1848, and if they dropped for a moment to 189 in 1849, they rose again in 1850 and reached 250.

.s? far is the increase in poverty .from causing the increase in smcide that even fortunate crises, the effect of which is abruptly to enhance a country's prosperity, affect suicide like economic disasters.

T~e conquest ?f Rome ~y Vict?r-Emmanuel in 1870, by definitely formmg the baS1S of Italian umty, was the starting point for the country of a process of growth which is making it one of the great powe~s of Europ~ .. Trade ~nd industry received a sharp stimulus from it and surpnsmgly rapid changes took place. Whereas in 1876 4,45? stearr~ boilers with a total of 54,000 hors~-power were enough for md~stnal needs, the number of machines in 1887 was 9,983 and their horse-power of 167,000 was threefold more. Of course the amount of production rose proportionately during the same time.5 Trade followed the same rising course; not only did the mer- chant marine, communications and transportation develop, but the nu~ber of pers?~s and things tr~nsported doubled.6 As this generally heightened activity caused an mcrease in salaries ( an increase of 35 per cent is estimated to have taken place from 1873 to 1889),

3 Se~ Starck, Verbrechen und Vergehen in Preus.sen, Berlin, 1884, p. 55. 4 D,e (;esetzmauigkeit im Gesel/schaftsleben, p. 345. . 5 See Fornasari di Verce, La criminalita e le vicende et'onomiche d'ltalia, Turin

1894, pp. 7783. 6 [bid., pp. l08-II7.

244 SUICIDE

the material comfort of workers rose, especially since the price of bread was falling at the same time.7 Finally, according to calcula- tions by Bodio, private wealth rose from 4 5 and a half billions on the average during the period. 1875-80 to 51 billions during the years 1880-85 and 54 billions and a half in 1885-90.8

Now, an unusual increase· in the number of suicides is observed parallel with this collective renaissance. From 1866 to 1870 they were roughly stable; from 1871 to 1877 they increased 36 per cent. There were in

1864-70 1871 1872 1873

29 suicides per million 31 suicides per million 3 3 suicides per million 36 suicides per million

1874 1875 1876 1877

3 7 suicides per million 34 suicides per million 36. 5 suicides per million 40.6 suicides per million

And since then the movement has continued. The total figure, 1,139 in 1877, was 1,463 in 1889, a new increase of 28 per cent.

In Prussia the same phenomenon occurred on two occasions. In 1866 the kingdom received a first enlargement. It annexed several important provinces, while becoming the head of the Confederation of the North. Immediately this growth iri glory and power was accompanied by a sudden rise in the number of suicides. There had been 123 suicides per million during the period 1856-60 per average year and only 122 during the years 1861-65. In the five years, 1866-70, in spite of the drop in 1870, the average rose to 133. The year 1867, which immediately followed victory, was that in which suicide achieved the highest point it had reached since 1816 ( 1 sui- cide per 5,432 inhabitants, while in 1864 there was only one case per 8,739).

On the morrow of the war of 1870 a new accession of good for- tune took place. Germany was unified and placed entirely under Prussian hegemony. An enormous war indemnity added to the public wealth; commerce and industry made great strides. The develop- ment of suicide was never so rapid. From 1875 to 1886 it increased 90 per cent, from 3,278 cases to 6,212.

World expositions, when successful, are considered favorable events in the existence of a society. They stimulate business, bring more money into the country and are thought to increase public

T Ibid., pp. 86-104. • The increase is less during the period 1885-90 because of a financial cri~is.

ANOMIC SUICIDE 245

prosperity, especially in the city where they take place. Yet, quite possibly, they ultimately take their toll in a considerably higher num- ber of suicides. Especially does this seem to have been true of the Exposition of 1878. The rise that year was the highest occurring between 187 4 and 1886. It was 8 per cent, that is, higher than the one caused by the crash of 1882. And what almost proves the Expo-

. sition to have been the cause of this increase is that 86 per cent of it took place precisely during the six months of the Exposition.

In 1889 things were not identical all over France. But quite possibly the Boulanger crisis neutralized the contrary e~ects of the Exposition by its depressive influence on the growth of suicides. Cer- tainly at Paris, although the political feeling aroused must have had the same effect as in the rest of the country, things happened as in 1878. For the 7 months of the Exposition, suicides increased almost 10 per cent, 9.66 to be exact, while through the remainder of the year they were below what they had been in 1888 and what they afterwards were in 1890.

The seven months of the Exposition The five other months

1888

517 319

1889

567 311

1890

540 356

It may well be that but for the Boulanger influence the rise would have been greater.

What proves still more conclusively that economic distress does not have the aggravating influence often attributed to it, is that it tends rather to produce the opposite effect. There is very little suicide in Ireland, where the peasantry leads so wretched a life. Poverty- stricken Calabria has almost no suicides; Spain has a tenth as many as France. Poverty may even be considered a protection. In the vari- ous French departments the more people there are who have in- dependent means, the more numerous are suicides.

Deportments Where, per 100,000 Inhabitants, · Suicides Were Committed (1878-1887)

Suicides

From 48 to 43 From 38 to 31 From 30 to 24 From 23 to 18 From 17 to 13 From 12 to 8 From 7 to 3

Number of Departments

5 6 6

15 18 26 10

Average Number of Per- sons of Independent Means per 1,000 Inhabi- tants in Each Group of

Deportments (1886)

127 73 69 59 49 49 42

SUICIDE 246

Comparison of the maps confirms that of the averages ( see

Appendix V). . . . . . . . . If therefore industrial or financial cnses mcrease su1~ides, this is

not because they cause poverty, since crises o_f pr?spenty have the same result· it is because they are crises, that is, disturbances of th_e collective o~der.9 Every disturbance of equilibrium, eve? t?ou~h it achieves greater comfort and a heightening of general vitaltty, 1s an impulse to voluntary death. Whenever serious readjustments take place in the social order, whether or not due. to ~ sudden growth or to an unexpected catastrophe, men are more. mclmed_ to self-destruc- tion. How is t?is possible? How can somethmg ~~ns1dered generally to improve existence .serve to detach men from it. .

For the answer, some preliminary considerations are required.

II . No livi.:ig being can be happy or even exist unless h~s n~eds are

sufficiently proportioned to his means. In other words, if ~1s needs require more than can be granted, or ~ven me~ely somethmg of a different sort, they will be under contmual f nct10_n an~ can on~y function painfully. Movements incapable of prod~ct10n without pam tend not to be reproduced. Unsatisfied tendencies at~o~hy, and as the impulse to live is merely the result of all the rest, it 1s bound to

weaken as the others relax. . . . . . . In the animal, at least in a normal condition, th1~ eqmltbrmm

is established with automatic spontaneity because the ammal depends on purely material conditions. All the organism ne:ds is th~t the sup- plies of substance and energy constantly employed 1~ _the vital process should be periodically renewed by equivalent quantities; ~hat re~la~e- ment be equivalent to use. Wheh the void created by ex1~tence m its o~n resources is filled, the animal, satisfied, asks no~hmg_ further. Its power of reflection is not sufficiently developed to imagme other ends than those implicit in its physical nature. On the other hand,

9 To prove that an increase in prosperity diminishes suicides, the attempt has bee~ made to show that they become less when emigration, the escape-valve of poverty, 1s widel racticed ( See Legoyt, pp. 2 5 7.2 59). But cases are numerous where parallel- ism i:st~ad of inverse proportions exist between the .two. !n Italy from 1876 to ~890 th ber of emigrants rose from 7 6 per 100,000 mhab1tants to 335, a figure itself ex:id~ between i88

7 and i889. At the same time suicides did not cease to grow

in numbers.

ANOMIC SUICIDE 247 as the wo~k demanded of each organ itself depends on the general state of v~tal energy and the needs of organic equilibrium, use is regulated m turn by replacement and the balance is automatic. The limits of one are those of the other; both are fundamental to the constitution of the existence in question, which cannot exceed them.

This is not the case with man; because most of his needs are not dependent o? his body or not to the same degree. Strictly speaking, we n:1ay cons~der that the quantity of material supplies necessary to the physical n:iamtenance of a hum.an life is subject to .. computation, thou~h this be less exact than m the preceding case and a wider ?1a~gm left for .t~e free combinations of the will; for beyond the indispensable mmimum which satisfies nature when instinctive a n:iore awakened ~eflection suggests better conditions, seemingly de- sirable ends cravmg ful~ll~ent.. Such appetites, however, admittedly sooner or later reach a limit which they cannot pass. But how deter- mine the quantity of well-being, comfort or luxury legitimately to ?e c~aved by a ~uman being? Nothing appears in man's organic nor m his psychologICal constitution which sets a limit to such tendencies. The functioning of individual life does not require them to cease at one poi~t rather than at another; the proof being that they have constantly mcreased since the beginnings of history, receiving more and_ more complete satisfaction, yet with no weakening of average health. Above all, how establish their proper variation with different conditions of life, occupations, relative importance of services, etc.? In no ~ocietr are they equally satisfied in the different stages of the soCial hierarchy. Yet human nature is substantially the same among all men, in its essential qualities. It is not human nature which ca_n ~ssign the variable limits necessary to our needs. They are thus unl1m1ted so far as they depend on the individual alone. Irre- spective of any external regulatory force, our capacity for feeling is in itself an insatiable and bottomless abyss.

But if nothing external can restrain ·this capacity, it can only be a s~urce of ~orm~nt_ ~o it~el~. Unlimite~ desires are insatiable by defini- ~100 an~ 1?sahab1ltty 1s nghtly considered a sign of morbidity. Be- mg_ unlimited, they constantly and infinitely surpass the means at their command; they cannot be quenched. Inextinguishable thirst is

' constantly renewed torture. It has been claimed, indeed that human . . ' act1V1ty naturally aspires beyond assignable limits and sets itself un-

SUICIDE

attainable goals. But how can such an undetermined state be any more reconciled with the conditions of mental life than with the .demands of physical life? All man's pleasure in acting, moving and exerting himself implies the sense that his efforts are not in vain and that by walking he has advanced. However, one does not ad- vance when one walks toward no goal, or-· -which .is the same thing -when his goal is infinity. Since the distance between us and it is always the same, whatever road we take, we might as well have made the motions without progress from the spot. Even our glances behind and our feeling of pride at the distance covered can cause only de- ceptive satisfaction, since the remaining distance is not proportion- ately reduced. To pursue. a goal which is by definition unattainable is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness. Of course, man may hope contrary to all reason, and hope has its pleasures even when. unreasonable. It may sustain him for a time; but it cannot survive the repeated disappointments of experience indefinitely. What more can the future offer him than the past, since he can never reach a tenable condition nor even approach the glimpsed ideal? Thus, the more one has, the more one wants, since satisfac- tions received only stimulate instead of filling needs. Shall action as such be considered agreeable? First, only on condition of blindness to its uselessness. Secondly, for this pleasure to be felt and to temper and half veil the accompanying painful unrest, such unending mo- tion must at least always be easy and unhampered. If'it is interfered with only restlessness is left, with the lack of ease which it, itself, entails. But it would be a miracle if no insurmountable obstacle were never encountered. Our thread of life on these conditions is pretty thin, breakable at any instant.

To achieve any other result, the passions first must be limited. Only then can they be harmonized with the faculties and satisfied. But since the individual has no way of limiting them, this must be done by some force exterior to him. A regulative force must play the same role for moral needs which the organism plays for physical needs. This means that the force can only be moral. The awakening of conscience interrupted the state of equilibrium of the animal's dormant existence; only conscience, therefore, can furnish the means to re-establish it. Physical restraint would be ineffective; hearts cannot be touched by physio-chemical forces. So far as the appetites are not

ANOMIC SUICIDE 2 49

automatically rest~ai~ed by physiological mechanisms, they on be halted only by a limit that they recognize as just. Men would never co~sent t~ r~strict their desires if they felt justified in passing the assigned .limit. But,. fo~ reasons given above, they cannot assign them- sel:es this law of Justice .. So they must receive it from an authority which they respect, to whICh they yield spontaneously. Either directly and as a whole, ~r through the agency of one of its organs, society alone. can play ~hi~ r_noderating role; for it is the only moral power supenor to the mdividual, the authority of which he accepts. It alone has. t,he power ~ecessary to stipulate law and to.set the point beyond whteh the passions must not go. Finally, it alone can estimate the reward to be prospectively offered to every class of human function- ary, in the name of the common interest.

As a matter of fact, at every moment of history there is a dim perception'. in the m~ral co~sciousness of societies, of the respective value of different sooal servICes, the relative reward due to each, and the cons:quent degr~e ~f comfort appropriate on the average to wor~ers i~ ~ach occupation. The different functions are graded in public opmi.on an~ a certai~ coeffi~ient of well-being assigned to ~ach, accordmg to its place m the hierarchy. According to accepted i?e~s, for e~ample, a certain way of living is considered the upper l11:1it to whteh a workman may aspire in his efforts to improve his exist~nce, and there is another limit ?elow which he is not willingly permitt_ed to fall unless· he has ser10usly bemeaned himself. Both differ for city and country workers, for the domestic servant and the day-laborer, for the business clerk and the official, etc. Likewise the man of wealth is reproved if he lives the life of a poor man but also if he seeks the refinements of luxury overmuch. Economist~ may protest in vain; public feeling will always be scandalized if an ~ndividual spends too. much ~ealth for wholly superfluous use, and it even seems that this severity relaxes only in times of moral dis- turbance.10 A genuine regim~n exists, ~herefore, although not alw~ys legally formulated, whteh fixes with relative precision the ma~i_mum degr~e of ease of living to which each social class may legitimately aspire. However, there is nothing immutable about such

10 Actually, this is a purely moral reprobation and can hardly be judicially imple- mented. ~e do not consider any reestablishment of sumptuary Jaws desirable or even possible.

SUICIDB

a scale. It changes with the increase or decrease of collective revenue and the changes occurring in the moral ideas of society. Thus what appears luxury to one period no longer does so to another; and the well-being which for long periods was granted _to a class only by exception and supererogation, finally appears strictly necessary and equitable. .

Under this pressure, each in his sphere vaguely realizes the ex- treme limit set to his ambitions and aspires to nothing beyond. At least if he respects regulations and is docile to collective authority, that is has a wholesome moral constitution, he feels that it is not ' . well to ask more. Thus, ar4 end and goal are set to the passions. Truly, there is nothing rigid nor absolute about such determination. The economic ideal assigned each class of citizens is itself confined to certain limits, within which the desires have free range. But it is not infinite. This relative limitation and the moderation it involves, make men· contented with their lot while stimulating them moder- ately to improve it; and this average co~tent?1~nt causes. t?e feeli_ng of calm, active happiness; the pleasure m existing and hvmg which characterizes health for societies as well as for individuals. Each per- son is then at least, generally speaking, in harmony with his condi- tion, and desires only what he may legitimately hope for as the normal reward of his activity. Besides, this does not' condemn man to a sort of immobility. He may seek to give beauty to his life; but his attempts in this direction may fail without causing him to despair. For, loving what he has and not fixing his desire solely on what he lacks, his wishes and hopes may fail of what he has happene~ to aspire to, without his being ~holly destitute. He h_as. the essentials. The equilibrium of his happiness 1s secure because 1t 1s defined, and a few mishaps cannot disconcert him. . . .

But it would be of little use for everyone to recognize the Justice of the hierarchy of functions established_ by public ?pini?n, if he did not also consider the distribution of these functions Just. The workman is not in harmony with his social position if he is not con- vinced that he has his deserts. If he feels justified in occupying another what he has would not satisfy him. So it is not enough for the ave;age level of needs for each social _condition to be regulated by public opinion, but another, more _pr~c~se rule, must .. fix the v:ay in which these conditions are open to md1v1duals. There 1s no society

ANOMIC SUICIDE

in which such regulation does not exist. It varies with times and places. Once it regarded birth as the almost exclusive principle of social classification; today it recognizes no other inherent inequality than hereditary fortune and merit. But in all these various forms its object is unchanged. It is also only possible, everywhere, as a re- striction upon individuals imposed by superior authority, that is, by collective authority. For it can be established only by requiring of one or another group of men, usually of all, sacrifices and conces- sions in the name of the public interest.

SoJne, to be sure, have thought that this moral pressure would be- come unnecessary if men's economic circumstances -were only no longer determined by heredity. If inheritance were abolished, the argument runs, if everyone began life with equal resources and if the competitive struggle were fought out on a basis of perfect equality, no one could think its results unjust. Each would instinctively feel that things are as they should be.

Truly, the nearer this ideal equality were approached, the less social restraint will be necessary. But it is only a matter of degree. One sort of heredity will always exist, that of natural talent. Intelli- gence, taste, scientific, artistic, literary or industrial ability, courage and manual dexterity are gifts received by each of us at birth, as the heir to wealth receives his capital or as the nobleman formerly received his title and function. A moral discipline will therefore still be required to make those less favored by nature accept the lesser advantages which they owe to the chance of birth. Shall it be de- manded that all have an equal share and that no advantage be given those more useful and deserving? But then there· would have to be a discipline far stronger to make these accept a treatment merely equal to that of the mediocre and incapable.

But like the one first mentioned, this discipline can be useful only if considered just by the peoples subject to it. When it is maintained only by custom and force, peace and harmony are illusory; the spirit of unrest and discontent are latent; appetites superficially restrained are ready to revolt. This happened in Rome and Greece when the faiths underlying the old organization of _the patricians and plebeians were shaken, and· in our modern societies when aristocratic preju- dices began to lose their old ascendancy. But this state of upheaval is exceptional; it occurs only when society is passing through some

252 SUICIDE

abnormal crisis. In normal conditions the collective order is regarded as just by the great majority of persons. Therefore, when we say that an authority is necessary to impose this order on individuals, we cer- tainly do not mean that violence is the only means of establishing it. Since this regulation is meant to restrain individual passions, it must come from a power which dominates individuals; but this power must also be opeyed through respect, not fear. ·

It is not true, then, that human activity can be released from all restraint. Nothing in the world can enjoy such a privilege. All exist- ence being a part of the universe is relative to the remainder; its nature and method of manifestation accordingly depend not only on itself but on other beings, who consequently restrain and regulate it. Here there are only differences of degree and form between the mineral realm and the thinking person. Man's characteristic privilege is that the ·bond he accepts is not physical but moral; that is, social. He is governed not by a material environment brutally imposed on him, but by a conscience superior to his own, the superiority of which he feels. Because the greater, better part of his existence transcends the body, he escapes the body's yoke, but is subject to that of society.

But when society is disturbed by some painful crisis or by benefi- cent but abrupt transitions, it is momentarily incapable of exercising this influence; thence come the sudden rises in the curve of suicides which we have pointed out above.

In the case of economic disasters, indeed, something like a declas- sification occurs which suddenly casts certain individuals into a lower state than their previous one. Then they must reduce their require- ments; restrain their needs, learn greater self -control. All the ad van· tages of social influence are lost so far as they are concerned; their moral education has to be recommenced. But society cannot adjust

· them instantaneously to this new life and teach them to practice the increased self-repression to which they are unaccustomed. So they are not adjusted to the condition forced on them, and its very prospect is intolerable; hence the suffering which detaches them· from a re- duced existence even before they have made trial of it.

It is the same if the source of the crisis is an abrupt growth of power and wealth. Then, truly, as the conditions of life are changed, the standard according to which needs were regulated can no longer remain the same; for it varies with social resources, since it largely

ANOMIC SUICIDE 253 determines the sh~re of each class of producers. The scale is upset; but a new scale cannot be immediately improvised. Time is required for the public conscience to reclassify men and things. So long as the social forces thus freed have not regained equilibrium, their r~spective v~l~es are unknown and so all regulation is lacking for a tune. The limits are unknown between the possible and the impos- sible, what is just and what is unjust, legitimate claims and hopes and those which are immoderate; Consequently, there is no restraint upon aspirations. If the disturbance is profound: . it affects even the prin~iples controlling the distribution of men among ·v..arious occu- pations. Since the relations between various parts of society are nec- essarily m~dified, the ideas expressing these relations must change. So~e partic_ular class especially favored by the crisis is no longer resigned to tts former lot, and, on the other hand, the example of its greater good fortune arouses all sorts of jealousy below and about it. Arpetites, not being controlled by a public opinion become dis- oriented, no longer recognize the limits proper to them. Besides, they are at the same time seized by a sort of natural erethism · simply b_r th~ greater intensity of public life. With increased prosperity de- sires mcrease. At the very moment when traditional rules have lost their authority, the richer prize offerecl these appetites stimulates them and makes them more exigent and impatient of control. The state of de-regulation or anomy is thus further heightened by pas- sions being less disciplined, precisely when they need more disci- plining. · But then their very demands make fulfillment impossible. Over- weening ambition always exceeds the results obtained, great as they may be, since there is no warning to pause here. Nothing gives satisfaction and all this agitation is uninterruptedly maintained with- out aRpeasement. Above all, since this race for an unattainable goal can give no other pleasure but that of the race itself, if it is one, once it. is interrupted the participants are left empty-handed. At the sai:ne time the struggle grows more violent and painful, both from bemg less controlled and because competition is greater. All· classes contend among themselves because no established classification any longer exists. Effort grows, just when it becomes less productive. How could the desire to live not be weakened under such conditions?

This explanation is confirmed by the remarkable immunity of poor

254 SUICIDE

countries. Poverty protects against suicide because it is a restraint in itself. No matter how one acts, desires have to depend upon re- sources to some extent; actual possessions are partly the criterion of those aspired to. So the less one has the less he is tempted to extend the range of his needs indefinitely. Lack of power, compelling mod- eration, accustoms men to it, while nothing excites envy if no one has superfluity. Wealth, on the other hand, by the power it bestows, deceives us into believing that we depend on ourselves only. Re- ducing the resistance we encounter from objects, it suggests the possi- bility of unlimited success against them. The less limited one feels, the more intolerable all limitation appears. Not without reason, therefore, have so many religions dwelt cin the advantages and moral value of poverty. It is actually the best school for teaching self- restraint. Forcing us to constant self-discipline, it prepares us to accept collective discipline with equanimity, while wealth, exalting the individual, may always arouse the spirit of rebellion which is the very source of immorality. This, of course, is no reason why hu- manity should not improve its material condition,. But though the moral dan.ger involved in every growth of prosperity is not irre- mediable, it should not be forgotten.

III If anomy never appeared except, as. in the above instances, in inter-

mittent spurts and acute crisis, it might cause the social suicide-rate to vary from time to time, but it would not be a regular, constant factor. In one sphere of social lif~, however-the sphere of trade and industry-it is actually in a chronic state.

For a whole century, economic progress has mainly consisted in freeing industrial relations from all regulation. Until very recently, it was the function of a whole system of moral forces to exert this discipline. First, the influence of religion was felt alike by workers and masters, the poor and the rich. It consoled the former and taught them contentment with their lot by informing them of the provi- dential nature of the social order, that the share of each class was assigned by God himself, and by holding out the hope for just com- pensation in a world to come in return for the inequalities of this world. It governed the latter, recalling that worldly interests are not man's entire lot, that they must be subordinate to other and higher

ANOMIC SUICIDE 2 55

interests, and that they should therefore not be pursued without rule or ~easure. _Temporal power, in turn, restrained the scope of eco- nomic _funct10ns _by its supremacy over them and by the relatively subordmate role 1t assigned them. Finally, within the business world proper, the occupational groups by regulating salaries, the price of products and ~roduction itself, indirectly fixed the average level of mcome on wh1ch needs are partially based by the very force of cir- cumstances. Howev~r, we do n~t mean to propose this organization as a model. Clearly it would be madequate to existing societies with- out gr~at changes. What we stress is its existence, the fact of its useful mfluenc~, _a~d that nothing today has come to take its place. . Actually, relig1?n has lost. most of its power. And government, instead of regul~tmg econ om IC life, has become its tool and servant. !he m~st opposite schools, orthodox economists and extreme social- ~sts, unit: to reduce government to the role of a more or less passive mter~edi~ry among the various social functions. The former wish to ?1ake It simply t~e guardian of individual contracts; the latter leave it the task of domg the collective bookkeeping, that is, of recording the _demands of consumers, transmitting them to producers, inven- torying the total revenue ~n~ distributing it according to a fixed formula. ~ut both refuse 1t any power to subordinate other social o~gans to itself. and to make them converge toward one dominant aim. On both ~1d~s n~tions ~re declared to have the single or chief purpose of ach1evmg mdustnal prosperity; such is the implication of the dogma of economic. materialism, the basis of both apparently opp~sed ~ystems. ~nd as these theories merely express the state of opinion, mdustry, instead of being still regarded as a means to an end tra?s~endi?g itself, has become the supreme end of individuals and societies ahk.e. Thereupon the appetites thus excited have b f d f 1. . . ecome r~e o any_ 1m1tmg authority. By sanctifying them, so to speak, this _apotheo~1s of well-being has placed them above all human law. Thetr restraint seems like a sort of sacrilege. For this reason even the pu~ely utilitarian regulatio.n of them exercised by the ind~strial world itself t~rough_ the medmm of occupational groups has been unable to persist. Ultimately, this liberation of desires has been made worse . by the very development of industry and the almost infinite extension o~ th~ i:narket .. So long as the producer could gain his profits only in his 1mmed1ate neighborhood, the restricted amount of

SUICIDE

possible gain could not much overexcite ambition. Now that he may assume to have almost the entire world as his customer, how could passions accept their former confinement in the face of such limitless prospects?

Such is the source of the excitement predominating in this part of society, and which has thence extended to the other parts. There, the state of crisis and anomy is constant and, so to speak, normal. From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by compari- son with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned, but so too is possibility abandoned when it in turn be- comes reality. A thirst arises for novelties, unfamiliar pleasures, nameless sensations, all of which lose their savor once known. Hence- forth one has no strength to endure the least reverse. The whole fever subsides and the sterility of all the tumult is apparent, and it is seen that all these new sensations in their infinite quantity cannot form a solid foundation of happiness to support one during days of trial. The wise man, knowing how to enjoy achieved results without having constantly to replace them with others, finds in them an attachment to life in the hour of difficulty. But the man who has always pinned all his hopes on the future and lived with his eyes fixed upon it, has nothing in the past as a Gomfort against the present' s afflictions, for the past was nothing to him but a series of hastily experienced stages. What blinded him to himself was his expectation always to find further on the happiness he had so far missed. Now he is stopped in his tracks; from now on nothing re- mains behind or ahead of him to .fix his gaze upon. Weariness alone, moreover, is enough to bring disillusionment, for he cannot in the end escape the futility of an endless pursuit.

We may even wonder if this moral state is not principally what makes economic catastrophes of our day so fertile in suicides. In societies where a man is subjected to a healthy discipline, he submits more readily to the blows of chance. The necessary effort for sus- taining a little more discomfort costs him relatively little, since he is used to discomfort and constraint. But when every constraint is hateful in itself, how can closer constraint not seem intolerable? There is no tendency to resignation in the feverish impatience of

ANOMIC SUICIDE 257

men's _lives. :w'hen there is no other aim but to outstrip constantly the point am~ed _at, how painful to be thrown back! Now this very lack of or?anizatron characterizing our economic condition throws the door wide to every sort of adventure. Since imagination is hungry for_ no:velty, and. ung~verned, it gropes at random. Setbacks neces- sarily mcr~ase with risks and thus crises multiply, just when they are becoming more destructive.

Yet these dis~ositions are so inbred that society has grown to ~cccpt them and is _ac:ustomed to think them normal. It is everbst- mgly" repeated that 1t 1s man's nature to be eternally dissatisfied con- stantly t~ advan:e, \\:itl~out relief or rest, toward an indefinite' goal. 1:he longing f?r infinity is daily represented as a mark of moral distinc- tion, whereas it can only appear within unregulated consciences which elevate to a rule the lack of rule from which they suffer. The doctrine of_ the most ruthless and swift progress has become an article of faith. But other theories appear parallel wi'th th . . h d . . . . ' ose praising t e ah vant~ges _of mstabi!1ty, "'.hJCh, _generalizing the situation that rives t em birth, declare life evil, claim that it is richer in grief than in p~easure .a~d that i.t attracts men only by false -claims. Since this disorder i~ greatest m the ~conomic world, it has most victims there.

I_ndustna_l and c~mmercial functions are really among the occu- pations whJCh furmsh the greatest number of suicides ( see Table XXJ~, P· 2 5 8) · Almost on a level with the I iberal professions, they sometimes surpass them; they are especially more afflicted than a ri- ~lture, where the old regulative forces still make their appeara~ce belt most and where the fever of business has least penetrated. Here is est recalled what was once the general constitution of the economic

o_rder. A?d the divergence. would be yet greater if, amon the sui- c~de~ of mdustry, employers were distinguished from wolmen for t e ormer are probably ~ost stricken by the state of anomy. 'The enor~ous rate of those with independent means ( 720 per million) ~uffic1e~tly shows that the possessors of most comfort suffer most.

verythmg that enforces subordination attenuates the effects of th. s~te. ~t least the horizon of the lower classes is limited by thos1; ~:ve t ~m, and for this same reason their desires are more modest

1 ~~e ': ~fhave only empty space above them are almost inevitabl; os in It, 1 no force restrains them.

258 SUICIDE

TABLE XXIV-. Suicides per Million Persons of Different Oc- cupations

Trade Transportation Industry

Fronce (187S-871 t 440 Swit:rerlond <1876 I 664 Italy (1866-761 277 Prussia <1883-901 754 Bavaria (1884-91 I 465 Belgium (1886-901 421

1,514 152.6

Wurttemberg <1873-781 273 Saxony <18781 · '341 .59 §

340 577 80.4

456 369 160 190

Agrlcul- Liwal • ture Professions

240 304 26.7

315 153 160 206 71.17

300 558 618 * 832 454 100

• When statistics distinguish several different sorts of liberal occupations, we show 01 a specimen the one' in which the suicide-rote is highest.

t From 1826 to 1880 economic functions seem less affected (see Compte-rendu of 18801; but were occupational statistics very accurate? * This figure is reached only by men of letters.

§ Figure represents Trade, Transportation and Industry combined for Saxony. Ed.

Anomy, therefore, is a regular and specific factor in suicide in our modern societies; one of the springs from which the annual contirt- gent feeds. So we have here a new type to distinguish from the others. It differs from them in its dependence, not on the way in which individuals are attached to society, but on how it regulates them. Egoistic suicide results from man's no longer finding a basis for existence in life; altruistic suicide, because 'this basis for existence appears to man situated beyond life itself. The third sort of suicide, the existence of which has just been shown, results from man's activity's lacking regulation and his consequent sufferings. By virtue of its origin we shall assign this last variety the name of anomic suicide.·

Certainly, this and egoistic suicide have kindred ties. Both spring from society's insufficient presence in individuals. But the sphere of its absence is not the same in both cases. In egoistic suicide it is deficient in truly collective activity, thus depriving the latter of object and meaning. In anomic suicide, society's influence is lacking in the basically individual passions, thus leaving them without a check-rein. In spite of their relationship, therefore, the two types are independ~ ent of each other. We may offer society everything social in us, and still be unable to control our desires; one may live in an anomic state without being egoistic, and vice versa. These two sorts of silicide therefore do not draw their chief recruits from the same social en- vironments; one has its principal field among intellectual careers, the world of thought-the other, the industrial or commercial world.

ANOMIC SUICIDE

IV

.~ut economic anomy is not the only anomy which may give rise to SUICide.

The suicides occurring at the crisis of widowhood of which we have already spoken 11 are really due to domestic a~omy resulting fro?1 the death of husband or wife. A family catastrophe occurs ~hKh. affects the su~vivor. He is not adapted to the new situation m. ':hich he finds himself and accordingly offers less resistance to sum de.

TABLE XXV-Comparison of European States from the Point of View of Both Divorce and Suicide

Annual Divorces per

1,000 Marriages Suicides

per Million Inhabitants

Norway ·Russia

I. COUNTRIES WHERE DIVORCE AND SEPARATION ARE RARE

England and Wales Scotland Italy Finland

0.54 (1875-801 1.6 (1871-77) 1.3 < 1871-79) 2.1 (1871-811 3.05 (1871-731 3.9 <1875-791

73 30 68

3i.'" 30.8

Averages 20 · 7 46.5

Bavaria Belgium Holland Sweden Boden Fronce Wurttemberg Prussia

Averages

II. COUNTRIES WHERE DIVORCE AND SEPARATION ARE OF AVERAGE FREQUENCY

5.0 <1881) 5.1 (1871-801 90.5 68.5 6.0 <1871-80) 35.5 6.4 (1871-801 81 6.5 (1874-791 156.6 7.5 <1871-791 150 8.4 <1876-781 162.4

133

6.4 w':6 . Ill. COUNTRIES WHERE DIVORCE AND SEPARATION ARE FREQUENT

Kingdom of Saxony 26.9 ( 1876-80) De!1mork 38 (1871-8(1) 299 Sw1tzerlond 47 0 876-SOI 258 · 216

Averages m . But another variety of anomic suicide should draw greater atten-

~1on, both because it is more chronic and because it will serve to illustrate the nature and functions of marriage.

11 See above, Book II, Ch. 3.