Suicide (textbook)

• What are the two important areas regarded as deviant in the study of interactionists?


  Mental illness and suicide
• Why is suicide considered an important topic in sociology?


  It helps demonstrate that sociology is a science
• What did Durkheim claim to discover about suicide using official statistics?


  He discovered the causes of suicide related to societal integration and regulation
• What is the interactionist perspective on Durkheim's approach to studying suicide?


  They reject his positivist approach and reliance on official statistics
• Who took an interactionist approach to suicide in 1967?


  Jack Douglas
• What is Jack Douglas's criticism of official suicide statistics?


  They are socially constructed and do not reflect the real rate of suicide
• According to Douglas, what influences whether a death is labeled as suicide?


  The interactions and negotiations between social actors like coroners and relatives
• What qualitative methods does Douglas suggest for understanding the meanings of suicide?


  Analysis of suicide notes and unstructured interviews
• What does Atkinson argue about official statistics on suicide?


  They are a record of the labels coroners attach to deaths
• What does Atkinson focus on in his study of coroners' verdicts?


  The taken-for-granted assumptions that coroners make
• What did Atkinson find important in determining a 'typical suicide'?


  Certain modes of death, location, circumstances, and life history
• What is a criticism of Atkinson's approach to understanding suicide?


  It is merely an interpretation without real facts
• How do interactionists view official statistics on mental illness?


  As social constructs
• What do interactionists believe about the labeling of mental illness?


  It is a record of the activities of those with the power to label
• What is the concept of paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy according to Lemert?


  Primary deviance leads to labeling, which causes secondary deviance
• What happens to individuals labeled as mentally ill according to Lemert's study?


  They may be excluded and face psychiatric intervention
• What are the key points of interactionist perspectives on suicide and mental illness?


  • Focus on meanings and labels
  • Critique of official statistics
  • Importance of qualitative methods
  • Influence of social interactions on labeling
• What are the implications of labeling in mental illness according to interactionists?


  • Labels can lead to exclusion
  • Labels can result in secondary deviance
  • Labels influence perceptions of individuals
  • Labels may lead to psychiatric intervention
• What label becomes the master status for a mental patient according to the study material?

  Mental patient
• How does the label 'mental patient' affect an individual's actions and statements?


  Everything they say or do will be interpreted through the lens of that label.
• What experiment did Rosenhan conduct in 1973?


  The pseudo-patient experiment.
• What diagnosis did the researchers receive in Rosenhan's experiment?


  They were diagnosed as schizophrenic.
• How were the pseudo-patients treated by the hospital staff despite acting normally?


  They were treated as mentally ill.
• What did the pseudo-patients' note-taking signify to the hospital staff?


  It was interpreted as a symptom of illness.
• What is the term used to describe the effects of being admitted to a total institution?

  Institutionalisation
• What does Goffman's concept of 'mortification of the self' entail?


  It involves symbolically killing off the old identity and replacing it with a new one.
• What are 'degradation rituals' according to Goffman?


  Practices that symbolize the loss of one's old identity.
• What similarities does Goffman note between psychiatric hospitals and other total institutions?


  They share similar processes of identity transformation.
• What happens to some inmates in total institutions according to Goffman?


  They become institutionalised and unable to readjust to the outside world.
• What forms of resistance do some inmates adopt in total institutions?


  They may manipulate their symptoms to achieve free movement.
• What did Braginski et al.'s study find about long-term psychiatric patients?


  They manipulated their symptoms to appear 'not well enough' for discharge.
• What does labelling theory suggest about the law?


  The law is not a fixed set of rules but is constructed and enforced in discriminatory ways.
• How can society's attempts to control deviance backfire according to labelling theory?


  They can create more deviance instead of reducing it.
• What is a criticism of labelling theory regarding determinism?


  It implies that once labelled, a deviant career is inevitable.
• What do realist sociologists argue about the emphasis on negative effects of labelling?


  It gives offenders a victim status and ignores real victims of crime.
• What types of crimes does labelling theory tend to focus on?


  Less serious crimes such as drug-taking.
• What does labelling theory assume about offenders?


  It assumes they are passive victims of labelling.
• What does labelling theory fail to explain about primary deviance?


  It does not explain why people commit primary deviance before being labelled.
• What strange conclusion does labelling theory imply about unlabelled criminals?


  It implies that unlabelled criminals have not deviated.
• What does labelling theory suggest about deviants' awareness of their actions?


  It implies that deviants are unaware they are deviant until labelled.