Attitudes toward the unification of Western Europe and cross-national suicide rates: eight European countries, 1973-1990.

Durkheim's (1897/1951) theory of political integration argues that when political crises occur, individuals band together to solve the problem at hand. As a result, this increased integration yields lower suicide rates. The purpose of this analysis is to examine a different component of the concept of political integration-that of attitudes. During the past couple of decades, individuals in eight Western European countries have been asked about their attitudes toward the unification of Western Europe. Cross-sectional time series analysis reveals that the attitudes individuals hold toward such an event are significantly related to suicide rates. Although Durkheim's theory of political integration focuses on events within a given country, the research herein finds that political integration exists on an international level as well. A reformulation of Durkheim's theory of political integration is put forth.

Problem drinking in the family and youth suicide.

Drawing from the work of Danigelis (1983), the present research put forth a theory of chronic stress to further our understanding of the processes related to suicide among 10- to 14-year-olds. Specifically, the relationship between problematic drinking in the home and youth suicide rates was examined. The hypothesis that chronic stress, as measured by problem drinking in the home, is related to youth suicide was supported.

Effects of societal intergration, period, region, and culture of suicide on male age-specific suicide rates: 20 developed countries, 1955-1989.

Multiple indicators of societal integration and proxies for the culture of suicide form the model used to explain variation in male age-specific suicide rates from 1955 to 1989 in 20 developed countries. The hypothesis that certain determinants of suicide rates have changed over the period between 1955 and 1989 was rejected, as was the hypothesis that there are effects of period, net of measured predictors. The determinants of suicide rates do vary by age, with the culture of suicide playing an especially important role in the 35-64 age group.

Firearms and suicide: the American experience, 1926-1996.

The hypothesis that American male suicide rates are higher than the rates of women because men select more highly lethal methods than do women is tested by adjusting male rates so that the distribution of male and female suicides to highly lethal methods is equal. However, the adjusted male rate is still higher than the total female rate in all eight periods from 1926-1929 through 1996. Also, increases in the percentage of female suicides using firearms over this period are unrelated to increases in female rates, and similar increases in firearms use by males are positively related to increases in male suicide rates only in recent decades. The impact of change in the male firearms suicide rate on change in their total suicide rate was weak or nonexistent in three of seven change periods; its impact on the female total rate was trivial in five of the seven change periods.

Societal integration and age-standardized suicide rates in 21 developed countries, 1955-1989.

Gender-specific age-standardized suicide rates for 21 developed countries over seven 5-year periods (1955-59...1985-89) form the two dependent variables. Durkheim's theory of societal integration is the framework used to generate the independent variables, although several recent theories are also examined. The results from a MGLS multiple regression analysis of both male and female rates provide overwhelming support for a multidimensional theory of societal integration and suicide, as first suggested by Durkheim.

Physiognomic homogamy: a study of parents and children.

The concept of physiognomic homogamy between parents and children was tested using 39 photo sets consisting of two sets of parents and one child. These photo sets included black and white slides, black and white photographs, and color slides. Matchings of the parents and child were attempted by 171 introductory sociology students. The results indicate that while the matches were far from universal, the students were able to match the children with their parents frequently enough to be statistically significant at the 0.001 level. There were no differences among the various forms of presentation.

Opinions on abortion as measured by the lost-letter technique.

This study uses a postal card as a modification of the "lost letter" technique to obtain information about abortion attitudes. The message on the cards (which can be read easily by the finder) included 100 with a promise to donate money to a proabortion committee, 100 to an antiabortion committee, and 100 contained a neutral message having nothing to do with abortion. 50 of each type of card were dropped in one of two urban areas. There were more antiabortion than proabortion cards mailed, but the highest return rate of neutral cards suggests a need for additional study of abortion attitudes.