Suicide Attempts of Japanese Youth and Durkheim's Concept of Anomie: An Interpretation

Abstract

The rapid increase in Japan suicide rates after World War II - from less than 20 per 100,000 population before, and less than 15 during the war, to 25.3 in 1955 - suggests that the high suicide rates in 1955 may be attributed, at least partly, to anomie after the war. The effect of anomie seems to have been especially great on Japanese youth, whose suicide rates nearly doubled from those of pre-war periods for both sexes (Table 1). The purpose of this paper is (1) to ascertain the essential components of Durkheim's concept of anomie; (2) to apply them to the explanation of high suicide rates of Japanese youth; and (3) to apply them to suicide attempts by Japanese youth. Although Powell and Gibbs and Martin maintain that Durkheim's concepts are inapplicable to individual cases, we try to find components of the concepts, which may be applicable to individual cases. After all, as Durkheim recognized by referring to the suicidal individual's psychological conditions, the components of the "suicidal current" must converge upon suicidal individuals if they are to contribute to suicide rates. The difference between suicidal and non-suicidal individuals who are exposed to the same "suicidal current" will be due to the variation in the amount and intensity of each one of the components, and the interrelationship among them, within the individual. The amount, intensity, and interrelationship will be largely determined by social conditions and their effects upon particular individuals. It is the usually accepted contention that anomie as a social condition must be distinguished from anomie as a psychological condition. We maintain, however that the two are expressions of the same force - anomie - in the different contexts of social structure and individual psychology. We follow Leslie White in his handling of the dichotomy of culture and behavior.