Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide: A Study of Adolescents in Turkey

Abstract

Although Durkheim’s theoretical arguments of suicide have been widely studied, empirical research is largely limited to Western populations, and few studies have focused on Muslim-populated countries. Using survey data, this study examines the association between the predictors for three forms of suicide as theorized by Durkheim (i.e., egoistic, anomic, fatalistic) and suicide attempts among Turkish adolescents at the individual level. Durkheim’s theory has been found to still be applicable over a century later in a religiously and culturally different context from its original framework. Almost all the predictors associated with each form of suicide were found to have significant links with an increased risk of attempting suicide. As a result, adolescents who are very weakly integrated into their social circles or who are very weakly or strongly regulated by society are shown to be most at risk these days for suicidal behaviors. Other results, contributions, implications, and limitations of the study are also discussed.