Citation

Yang Lester B. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2001; 31(1): 15-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1521/suli.31.1.15.21306

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This empirical study commemorates Durkheim's contribution to suicidology by reviewing his own and his followers' formulation of the relationship between the business cycle and suicide. Three distinctive sociological theories of suicide, including Durkheim's, were identified to link the suicide rate to the socioeconomic environment of the society. A real-income hypothesis of suicide was developed to capture (a) the positive impact of the economy on suicide, (b) the curvilinear impact of the economy on suicide implied by Durkheim's proposition, and (3) the interplay of both economic and sociological variables on suicide. Another implication from the reformulation is that there may exist a positive natural rate of suicide for any society. These two hypotheses were tested using the 1990 census data for the continental states of the United States. Some conclusions and suggestions were drawn for future research.