Durkheim's Suicide - how this century old research can be applied to today's youths.

Suicide is one of the great tragedies of our time or any time, for that matter. The waste of human life is especially horrifying if it is a young person in good health, who has his/her entire life to live. For a long period in human history, it was believed that suicide was the result of non-social problems that it had to do with the individual's mental state and well-being. However, a major figure …

…eason. If Durkheim were alive today, he would see society undergoing great changes once again and he would point to increases in suicide rates as proof of his original thesis. Furthermore, that it can only be remedied by strengthening society as moral authority. However, the Quebec referendum proves this theory to be wrong. Despite all the criticisms made, there is no doubt that Durkheim through suicide, he had established sociology as an academic, scientific discipline.