Introduction
In his book 'The Rules of Sociological Method', French sociologist Emile Durkheim purports to promote sociology as a science to derive knowledge. In sociology, social facts are identified as a set of values, social conventions and social structures that impose social constraint on an individual. As per Durkheim, "The first and fundamental rule is to consider social facts as things" (Emile Durkheim, p 64). These 'things' are the core of sociology. In his book, Durkheim gives various explanations of social fact but the best definition lies in his last line: “A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations” (Emile Durkheim, p 59). Further into the essay, the discussion on social facts will be addressed with a deeper insight throwing light on Durkheim’s view on social facts, his identification of its characteristics and his study of suicide as an act resulting out of varied social conditions.
Social facts by the definition of Durkheim are external constraints that are often interrelated and dependent on each other for how they function and influence society. The various social roles an individual performs of a family member, citizen, brother, husband and friend all follow a particular line of behaviors and thoughts determined by the society and these acts constitute social facts. All the rules and regulations we follow in the world come under social facts. For example, in the US some basic traffic laws include driving on the right hand side of the road, maintenance of a particular speed limit, and driving the car sitting on the left side of the vehicle. But in many countries including the UK, Australia and India, people drive cars sitting on the right side of the vehicle and driving on the left side of the road. This difference in driving rules and regulations are social facts that vary from one society to another. Further, the way we interact or greet each other also varies society wise. For instance, in the US, professionals and businessmen shake hands while friends and relatives embrace while meeting but in China people bow to greet each other and in Chinese custom, shaking hands with a married woman is considered impolite. All these social customs might be different but they constitute the social facts of each society.
According to Durkheim, social facts are not individualistic, they are collective. He believes that society is composed of two forms - internal and external. The internal form of the society refers to our collective moral consciousness. It is an instrument which forms our attitude and beliefs required to survive in this world. If our actions do not conform to the rules of internal society then we are likely to be subjected to ridicule, social ostracism and other such punishments. The laws of the state, the Bible, education are the examples of internal society. Society follows these measures to keep the individuals of the society in control of their behaviors and maintain social order. External form of the society refers to the pressures exerted by the community to conform to the social order. For instance, our feelings, thoughts and actions are external to society. Socials facts restrict our actions and force us to behave in compliance of the societal norms that are founded by the society.
Social facts are of two types - material and non-material. Material socials facts are the ones that are physically present and affect our lives, such as the institutions, system of law, social structure, population distribution, church, the economy, some aspects of religion, academic institutions and mode of communications. Material social facts are significant for learning the structure of a society and the form of interaction existing in that structure. Nonmaterial social facts, on the other hand constitute the basic principle of sociology. Nonmaterial social facts don’t have a tangible reality. They exist in values, social norms and cultural beliefs. For example, funeral rites or a marriage ceremony are nonmaterial social facts.
Characteristics of Social Facts
Social facts are identified by several characteristics. Constraint is one characteristic that defines the ability to compel an individual to perform actions conforming to societal norms. For instance, a person might go to jail and pay a heavy fine for drunken driving. Jail and fine are the constraints to force an individual to stick to the law enacted in the society. Another characteristic is generality which is universal. For example, in the above example, the generality is the rule against drunken driving that applies to anyone who drinks alcohol and has a valid driver's license. The final characteristic is externality which forms a reality sui-generis, external to an individual. For instance, a child is born without any constraint but in order to make the child suitable for social life, lots of restraints like obedience, cleanliness, respect are imposed upon it from the time of its birth. These social functions are the facts external to a child.
Suicide
According to Durkheim, the rates of suicides are linked with the level of social integration and social regulation. Durkheim didn't show interest in studying suicide an individual act of suicide. He was interested in studying suicide as an act committed by a group and not by an individual. In his study on suicide, he identifies one type of nonmaterial social facts i.e. the social currents responsible for an increase and decrease in the rate of suicides in different society. Durkheim developed a methodology to explain the difference in the rate of suicides among societies. The first step involves in defining suicide that has been defined by Durkheim as “all cases of that resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result."
The second step involves eliminating the preconceived notions about suicide. There were some preconceptions that heredity, race, climate change, mental illness and imitation were the factors leading to suicide but Durkheim rejected all of these explanations. He rejects climate because climates are not social conditions. He rejects the view of suicide as hereditary problem or act of mental illness. Further he refutes the psychopathic view which stresses that people with high consumption of alcohol have higher propensity of committing suicides. In his study he finds no match between high alcohol consumption rates with that of suicides. He also rejects the view that people commit suicide by imitating others.
The third step includes a comparative approach that involves examining social phenomenon in different social context. In his study Durkheim makes comparison of the suicide rates among varied groups and people. He argues that the rate of suicide varies considerably depending on the social integration and regulation. He compares Catholicism with Protestantism stating that Catholicism is more socially integrated than Protestantism and this difference explains the rate of suicides. Further, the rate of suicide is less among people with large family and big social circle while people belonging to small family and small social circle are more likely to attempt suicide.
Durkheim categorizes suicides into four types - Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic and Fatalistic. The factors of these suicides are proportionate to the degree of social integration and regulation of the society. Depending on the high or low level of social integration and social rules and regulation, the suicide rate varies. Egoistic suicide takes place when the social integration level in a society is less and this low level of social integration develops a feeling of nothingness and depression among individuals leading to suicides. Altruistic suicides take place when the social integration is too high with strong collective consciousness. The suicides of old and sick men, suicides of women after their husbands' death, ritual suicides and suicide bombing are examples of altruistic suicides. Durkheim believes this sort of suicidal tendency germinates in the hope that there are better prospects waiting beyond this life.
Anomic suicides take place when the degree of the social rules and regulation and constraints on individuals is too low. When the social order in a society is disrupted and the governing authority is unable to impose restraints on the social members, people become enslaved by their passions that result in destructive activities involving suicides in great numbers than normal. Anomic suicides may take place during an economic downturn or depression. When the social rules and regulations are too oppressive making the individuals feel imprisoned and claustrophobic and they see no way out from their choking condition, fatalistic suicides take place. An example of this is when a slave unable to bear with the oppression unleashed on him by his master commits suicide.
Conclusion
Durkheim first established sociology as a science to explain the social phenomena. He identifies social facts as a set of values, social norms and structures that play a role in affective our social lives. He defines social facts as external constraints often interrelated and dependent on each other for how they influence the society as a whole. All the rules and regulations followed in the world constitute social facts. Social facts are characterized by constraint, generality and externality. In his study of suicide, Durkheim identifies the degree of social integration and social regulation as factors contributing to the difference in suicide rates among societies. He divides suicides into four types- egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic. Durkheim's ideas of social facts truly stand true in the social structure today. The social facts with the customs, moral consciousness and the rules and regulations constitute the civilized society, a safe haven for the social beings, the humans.
Work Cited
Sociology 250, 1999, Social Facts and Suicide, accessed 28th May 2013 <http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm>
Bolden, Leslie-Ann. Bowman, Michela. Kaufman, Sarah & Lindemann, Danielle. 'Emile Durkheim: Suicide as Social Fact', accessed 28th May 2013 <http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/calhoun.jackson.theory/papers/A--DurkheimSuicide.pdf>
Durkheim, Emile. 1982, The Rules of Sociological Method, accessed 28th May 2013 <http://comparsociology.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Emile-Durkheim-Rules-of-Sociological-Method-1982.pdf>
