fatalistic suicide

one of four types of suicide proposed in 1897 by Émile Durkheim, involving excessive social regulations that restrict individuation. Feeling controlled by the values and norms of society, the person becomes hopeless and despairs of ever escaping these oppressive external forces. Durkheim associated fatalistic suicide with preindustrial social orders, citing suicides of slaves and of older childless married women as examples, and believed it to be of little contemporary relevance. Indeed, fatalistic suicide often is omitted from modern discussions of Durkheim’s typology. See also altruistic suicide; anomic suicide; egoistic suicide.

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Psychology term of the day

December 26th 2024

institutionalized racism

differential treatment of individuals on the basis of their racial group by religious organizations, governments, businesses, the media, educational institutions, and other large social entities. Examples include discrimination in hiring, promotion, and advancement at work; restrictive housing regulations that promote segregation; unfair portrayal of minority members in newspapers and magazines; and legal statutes that restrict the civil liberties of the members of specific racial categories. A parallel phenomenon exists for sexism. Also called institutional racism.