Suicide: A 15-year review of the sociological literature part I: Cultural and economic factors

Cultural and economic patterns from 130 sociological works on suicide from 1981 to 1995 are reviewed in this article. The traditional Durkheimian pers pective on suicide was often questioned by research on the impact of the ma ss media, alcohol, class, modernization, religion, and politics. Major theo retical developments included the application of differential identificatio n theory to Phillips's model of copycat suicide, the application of crimino logy's opportunity theory to suicide, and new explanations for the link bet ween alcohol and the social suicide rate. Explanations are reviewed for the major new suicide trend: after half a century of convergence, male and fem ale suicide rates are diverging. Finally, the review notes patterns of cont inued stability in suicide research findings in areas such as racial differ ences and economic strain.