Is Life Worth Living? Fixtures And Prevalence of Emile Durkheim’s Typology in Online Reported Suicides in Nigeria – Implications for Policy
- July 21, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Sociology
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
Ekpechu, Joseph Ogbonnaya Alo (PhD)
Sociology Department, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Abstract:- This study examined online reported suicides in Nigeria in order to find out the prevalence rate of each of the Emile Durkheim’s types of suicide in the country. Historical research design was used to examine online reported suicides in the country from 2009 to 2018. It was found among other things that Durkheim’s egoistic suicide (n = 9), altruistic suicide (n = 376), anomic suicide (n = 3) and fatalistic suicide (n = 3) fitted into the recurring incidences of suicides in the country (N = 391). Policy should target the control of incidences of altruistic suicide in the country. It was concluded that the most prevalent form of suicide was altruistic suicide.
Key Words: Altruistic Suicide, Online Reported Suicides, Prevalence Rate of Emile Durkheim’s Types of Suicide, Prevalent Form of Suicide, Suicide
I. INTRODUCTION
Life is a valuable resource provided to all living beings on earth. Once a person seizes from breathing automatically the person is in coma and/or dead. The later could be caused by suicide. This is so because some individuals try to take their own lives for reasons best known to them. Rates of suicide vary from one locality to another. It also varies from one community to another. This is also evident across regions and different countries of the world. The variations exist due to different reasons that make people to take their own lives.
The way people take their own lives were cause of concern to many especially to the residents of Nigeria. This was also a cause of concern to many agencies and non-governmental organisations, health workers and concerned individuals. It was also a cause of concern to many affected families, relatives and community members of suicidal victims as well. Efforts made by government, health workers, psychologists, counsellors, parents and concerned agencies to curb incidences of suicide seem to be yielding less result. Emile Durkheim tried to find a solution to the problem by working on suicide. However, his classifications did not fix the different suicides occurring in Nigeria into these types. Other researches carried out in the country did not go towards this direction either. This study therefore filled this gap in knowledge
