SOCY1002 Lecture 9: Social Wellbeing and Mental Health
[Lecture Nine]
Social Wellbeing and Mental Health
DURKHEIM’S PIONEERING WORK
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
• Durkheim noted that the suicide rates is following social features for example – he
discovered that suicide rates were higher in men rather than women, suicide rates are higher
among people who live in cities rather than the country, suicide rates are higher during times
of peace rather than war
• Durkheim highlighted that integration within society decreases the chance for suicide –
community protects from suicide
• Durkheim believed that there were 4 types of suicide:
1. Altruistic suicide: too much integration
2. Fatalistic suicide: too much regulation
3. Anomic suicide: not enough regulation
4. Egoistic suicide: not enough integration
CULTURAL APPROACHES
To what extent are mental disorders related to culture?
• Position 1: Universality of mental disorders
• Position 2: Cultural variations (“culture-bound syndromes”)
• Position 3: Western imperialism
How does culture produce mental disorders?
• “Diseases of success” and “diseases of failure”
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Document Summary
To what extent are mental disorders related to culture: position 1: universality of mental disorders, position 2: cultural variations ( culture-bound syndromes , position 3: western imperialism. Diseases of success and diseases of failure : essentially it produces norms that people can fail to achieve or over succeed at fulfilling . Inequalities and social positioning: social position: where you position yourself in society , the social determinants of mental disorders. Depending on the area within a city where people are living they were suffering the type of mental illness people were suffering from. The structure of a city or particular issues people may suffer from due to the city e. g. isolation changes the likeliness one may suffer from a mental illness. In the poorer classes people suffer more from psychotics (mental illness where they distort reality) whilst higher classes are more likely to suffer from neurotics (emotions related to reality: mental disorders are related to social positioning issues.
