The Causes of Crime Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Causes of Crime - Term Paper Example    One of the well-known researches that applied the Sociological Theory was made by a French Sociologist named Emile Durkheim. He conducted a classic study of suicide, with an attempt to explain the difference between the sociological from psychological intentions of individuals. According to Durkheim, there are four main types of suicide: Egoistic suicide – committed by people who do not feel attached to a group or community that commands their loyalty and participation, for example, foreign students in America who are away from their family and friends. Altruistic suicide – committed by people who have excessive loyalty to his group than himself, for example, soldiers compared to the individual. Fatalistic suicide – occurs when people believe that there is nothing they can do to alter their living conditions. Anomic suicide – people depend on social guidelines to order their lives and they commit these suicides to have one consequence when rules of behavior are conflicting (Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In arriving at his conclusions, Durkheim identified few factors relating to the issue and applied theories one at a time to the data until they fitted. He concluded that â€Å"suicide rate varied from group to group† (Gelles and Levine, 1999, p.25). It means to say that there is no exact causal pattern for suicide and the tendency that people may or may not commit suicide depends upon the attributes of the group he belongs to. For example, Japanese soldiers were most likely to take their lives than other members of armed forces; â€Å"unmarried people had much higher rates than married people did† (Schaefer, 2001, p. 11). Though Durkheim offered a more scientific explanation to the causes of suicides compared to other findings, his conclusions were still weak. A theory is not a final explanation of events, like human behavior. That is why sociologists continue to determine other factors that will explain why people commit suicide (summarized based f rom Shaefer, 2001, p.11; website reference containing closely similar facts at http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/CURRIC/soc/durkheim/durkw2.htm)