Suicide pattern in Thailand and Suicide By Emile Durkheim

[Translate from Thai language by Minds Translate]

For me Suicide is probably a condition that set humans apart from animals. 

I think that if humans were animals that had instincts to survive Suicide is certainly not instinctive. And what is it? The answer that can be thought of in childhood is often associated with stress, psychological or psychological.

On the first day I entered university The teacher talks about classic writing name "Suicide: A Study in Sociology" (1897) written by Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), the father of French sociology.

Which presents the idea that suicide is a matter of norms, rules, and the unification of groups or societies. 

..... Suicide Divided suicides into 4 broad types based on statistics of French suicide rates. That statistics combined with cultural and cultural contexts in the 18th- 19th century, for example, found that suicide among men more than women In people who are not married than those who are married In Protestants than Catholics In normal times rather than in times of war Or when the economy is better than the economic downturn. What are the 4 suicides?

1) Altruistic suicide is suicide for others. This is almost the cultural pattern of traditional society to modern society. Caused by a society of high unity Members have strong bonds In traditional traditions such as sacrifice Sacrificing the body in fire (Hindu Ritual) The suicide of the Inuit elderly people to preserve food and resources or even the suicide of the Kamikaze squadron in World War 2 is suicide in accordance with the values or norms of a very tight society. People who commit suicide accept that value. Suicide is therefore an honor And other members of society will praise the person who committed suicide

2) Egoistic suicide 

suicide for oneself It is a person's lack of interaction with the way of life. Therefore, when he commits suicide, he is not restrained from his deep feelings of attachment to others in the group. And he will not consider the effect of his suicide on the group or others Or people lacking feelings, have little attachment to those around them and feel that they are impaired. Including the lack of emotional stability from the group (Being abandoned by a group or society) would feel that they cannot rely on others in the society when facing problems. Causing an individual to feel alone and become an emotionally vulnerable person leading to the cause of suicide

Altruistic Suicide is caused by an individual feeling attached to the group and adhering to the lifestyle and values of the group. But suicide in the Egoistic Suicide style is caused by personal isolation. Lack of close attachment or be isolated from the group

3) Fatalistic suicide occurs when the person is over control. Such as in the case of prisoners imprisoned for torture, loss of identity and future freedom So there are choices better to die

4) Anomic suicide 

Anomic suicide is very interesting. It is suicide caused by disorder in society. Because the strong society in Durkhiem's viewpoint is a structured society. There are norms that create rules for behavior and relationships between people in society. The norms will guide what is appropriate or unsuitable. Therefore, a person will assess the suitability, virtue and suitability according to this strong norm.

But when the norms become to weakness, unified society and the members of society will feel insecure. Confused with individual need and what is needed with the way the society determines. Durkhiem is called Anomie. 

Therefore, Egoistic Suicide and Anomic Suicide are caused by the society being. Unified by a single, low level And people have almost confusion and feeling of helplessness

Rattaporn Pattamacharoen (2009), Professor of Social Sciences of PSU, in the case of the suicide of a Malaysian woman in the Papua New Guinea region. That has a large male society It is believed that if a woman dies with malice Their spirits will either feud with the husband or the person who killed her. They therefore commit suicide in the early morning hours, in which many people in the community see her. And may kill the daughter that will grow up to take care of her husband along with This is to humiliate her husband and her husband to face the wrath of their wife's relatives. Their suicide reflects the condition of Anomie due to the oppressive social structure. Causing women to be in an inferior position Birth of disgrace Causing women to feel that they are powerless Unable to negotiate or do what is desired. And do not feel secure under this norm Therefore causing confusion in the way women want it to be incompatible with the methods set by society To make the noise of this confusion, she died (see also in Suicide: Social and Cultural Phenomena in the Academic Journal of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 5, no. 2, Jul-Dec 2009, pages 7-23. )

........ in a larger view. When we talk about suicide in the current economic and social conditions of Thailand. It can be suicidal in two ways: one for others and some for Anomie to devote to protesting to the bureaucracy. For example, in the case of suicide in front of the Ministry of Finance. Some committed suicide due to the rapidly changing economic conditions after the closure of the city. Until a condition in which some individuals are unable to adjust and confuse When the expectation of healing or administration provided by the state does not conform to the norms Regarding social justice Many people face questions with this consistency. During that time, many people died.

And more importantly, in the news of suicide many times, the victims deliberately dropped evidence showing frustration than being alienated from society, such as the case of judges in the middle class Yala court in societies that deliberately set up a suicide area. Because of protesting the norms in civil service circles Or the case of a Chiang Mai firefighter who committed suicide by protesting against forest fires Suicide now reflects the confusion and fragility of social patterns more clearly than before. Suicide is a pattern of protest, resistance, and resentment. Because the needs and the authority determine social rules are inconsistent Death is a sacrifice in order to negotiate this malice. Like Melanesian' women.