What Hope for Today's Youths?

Motivations for Suicide

There are many theories about the motivations for suicide. "Suicide results from a person's reaction to a perceived overwhelming problem, such as social isolation, death of a loved one (especially a spouse), a broken home in childhood, serious physical illness, growing old, unemployment, financial problems, and drug abuse."—The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine.

According to sociologist Emile Durkheim, there are four basic types of suicide:

Egoistic suicide—This "is thought to stem from an individual's lack of integration into society. Largely left to themselves, victims of egoistic suicide are neither connected with, nor dependent on, their community." They tend to be loners.

Altruistic suicide—"The individual is overly integrated into a group so that he or she feels no sacrifice is too great." Examples given are Japanese kamikaze pilots in World War II and religious extremists who blow themselves up while killing their supposed enemies. Other examples would be those who have died by self-immolation in order to draw attention to a cause.

Anomic suicide—"The victim of anomic suicide is not capable of dealing with a crisis in a rational manner and chooses suicide as the solution to a problem. [This] occurs when the individual's accustomed relationship with society is suddenly and shockingly altered."

Fatalistic suicide—This is "thought to be caused by excessive societal regulation that fundamentally restricts an individual's freedom." Such victims "feel that they have no viable future."—Adolescent Suicide: Assessment and Intervention, by Alan L. Berman and David A. Jobes.

Return to Suicide—A Scourge of Young People.