Social History of Anomie

A Longitudinal Study on Death Rates by Suicide, Sex, Age and Region

Abstract

These days, the higher death rates by suicide of middle and elderly age men and in a few regions come into question. This paper investigates the particulars and current circumstances of the death rates by suicide structurally and historically. It takes Émile Durkheim's “Anomie” theory and the methodology of Annales' social history. The analysis used death and death rates by suicide, sex, age and region from 1899 to 2002 in vital statistics.
During the Period of High Economic Growth of 1960s, death rates by suicide, sex, age and region were undergoing changes. Japan's death rates by suicide were reduced immediately in the 1960s, and after this period it rose gradually. In the 1960s, gender differences declined, but after this period, female death rates by suicide fell down slightly, while those of males rose in the age range of 40 to 59 years. After this period, the suicide rates in the majority of regions are on a low level, while the rates in a small number of economically disadvantaged regions are rising. The regional distribution is changing in such a way that “the center is lower, and the border is higher.”