Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: To explain suicide, sociologists since Durkheim have focused much more on the social integration of groups than on the social integration of places. Drawing on the Chicago School’s focus on the latter, especially as exemplified in the field of criminology through social disorganization theory and Stark’s theory of deviant places, this paper addresses this neglect by developing a theory of suicidal places based on places’ levels of population density and residential stability. Places with low levels of both density and stability are conceived as having low levels of social integration, and such low place integration should be associated with higher suicide rates. In an initial test and application of this theory with data from the continental United States, place integration is inversely associated with state suicide rates and also accounts for the higher rate of the American West. In another finding, the initial association of divorce with state suicide rates becomes partly spurious once place integration is taken into account. Final remarks discuss the findings’ implications for additional work in this area.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study investigates MySpace profiles of users who have committed suicide versus non-suicidal MySpace sites. A content analysis of regular MySpace profiles analyzed in both suicide and non-suicide profiles focused on facial features: smiles, eye contact, and general facial expression, social isolation, relationship status, smoking, drinking, and color of the profile. In the results all of these variables except drinking proved to be strong indicators of suicide ideation and depression.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This project began as an attempt to create a comprehensive database of homicide, suicide and homicide-suicide cases in a Midwestern county that has a higher than average suicide and homicide rate for the region. The goal of collecting such a database was to understand the conditions that lead to lethal violence in order to develop more effective intervention and prevention strategies. Further, by studying this data and emergent patterns, there is a hope that this information can be used to assist professionals in the identification, investigation, prosecution of cases or the coordination of resources. This study will chronicle the researchers’ attempt to develop a scholarly methodology to assist in the analysis of twenty years of coroner and prosecutor files and develop a useful database for researching the circumstances surrounding lethal violence.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Abstract: Since 1987 the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) have used the tactic of suicide bombing over 200 times in the course of their conflict with the Sri Lankan government. In that time the LTTE has emerged as the only effective representative of the Tamil population in the North. Moreover, the LTTE has begun the process of peaceful negotiation with the Sri Lankan government. How did the LTTE successfully move towards a political solution to conflict while maintaining its revolutionary character? What role has suicide bombing played in the evolution of the LTTE? Finally, what can the particular case of the Tamil Tigers tell us about the use of suicide-bombing, and other suicide missions in general? This paper argues that suicide bombing played an important role in the evolution of the LTTE into a political organization on two levels. First, the use of suicide bombing showcased the lengths to which the LTTE would go for their cause both domestically and internationally. Second, the LTTE has utilized suicide bombing to inculcate a strong sense of internal group cohesion through the symbolic resonance of these acts. This in turn leads to a high level of individual commitment among Tamils in the North. The paper will focus on the effect that suicide bombing has on the internal dynamics of the LTTE, including the process through which suicide bombers are chosen, and how these bombers are portrayed after their missions. Many theorists posit that violence does not work in attaining political outcomes. However, groups continue to use violent tactics in political mobilization. The LTTE’s use of suicide bombing highlights how violent tactics can and do mobilize internal group support.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper I compare the suicide theories advanced by Masaryk and Durkheim and testing their conclusions using data from an Eastern European country, Romania. I have chosen two 19th century theories with very different public impact: Durkheim’s book dedicated to the subject, Le suicide, published in 1897 became a classic text in sociology and having been read by generations and generations of students. Masaryk’s essay Suicide and the Meaning of Civilization, published in 1884 is rather obscure, not very much discussed, although many of Durkheim’s ideas are similar to what Masaryk published a couple of years before.
There are two main aspects I will follow in my discourse: a) differences and similarities between the two theories and b) what can still be used from their ideas to characterize the nowadays situation.