Mendlovic, Shlomo; Doron, Adiel; Ratzoni, Gideon; Braham, Peter
Abstract
In his monumental study on suicide, Emile Durkheim coine the term “anomie” to describe societies in which norms are unclear, contradictory, or unsuitable to the circumstances of their time. Durkheim focused on the implications that amonie has on the collective, proposing that it might result in anarchy or in the disintegration of the social structure. He argued that societies are obliged to construct a framework to restrict human aspirations to levels which can be attained given the limitations on resources, but that where this framework breaks down, these human aspirations would know no bounds and that the resulting despair would lead to a rise in the incidence of suicide.
