1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Suicide

by Henry Harvey Littlejohn

SUICIDE (from Lat. sui, of oneself, and cidium, from caedere, to kill), the act of intentionally destroying one's own life. The phenomenon of suicide has at all times attracted a large amount of attention from moralists and social investigators. Its existence is looked upon, in Western civilization, as a sign of the presence of maladies in the body politic which, whether remediable or not, deserve careful examination. It is, of course, impossible to compare Western civilization in this respect with, say, Japan, where suicide in certain circumstances is part of a distinct moral creed. In Christian ethics and Christian law it is wrong, indeed illegal, as a felo de se, self-murder. It is within comparatively recent years that the study of suicide by means of the vital statistics of various European countries has demonstrated that while the act may be regarded as a purely voluntary one, yet that suicide as a whole conforms there to certain general laws, and is influenced by conditions other than mere individual circumstances or surroundings. Thus it can be shown that each country has a different suicide-rate, and that while the rate for each country may fluctuate from year to year, yet it maintains practically the same relative proportions to the rates of other countries. The following table shows the suicide-rate for various European countries (Bertillon):—

Table I.

Country	Period of  Observation.	Annual Number  of Suicides per Million Inhabitants.
Saxony	1878–1882	392
Denmark	1880–1882	251
Switzerland	1878–1882	239
Baden	„	198
Württernberg	1877–1881	189
France	1878–1882	180
Prussia	„	166
Belgium	„	100
Sweden	„	92
England and Wales	„	75
Norway	„	69
Scotland	1877–1881	49
Ireland	1878–1882	17

In addition to furnishing materials for an approximately accurate estimate of the number of suicides which will occur in any country in a year, statistics have demonstrated that the proportion of male to female suicides is practically the same from year to year, viz. 3 or 4 males to 1 female; that it is possible to predict the month of greatest prevalence, the modes of death adopted by men on the one hand and women on the other, and even the relative frequency of suicide amongst persons following different professions and employments; and that in most of the countries of Europe the suicide-rate is increasing. In England and Wales the annual death—rate per million from suicide has steadily advanced, as is shown by the following figures for quinquennial periods:—

1861–186565 per million living.
1866–187066””
1871–187566””
1876–188074””
1881–188575””
1886–189079””
1891–189588””
1896–190089””
1901–1905100””

The next table illustrates the continued increase in recent years, and at the same time shows the total number and the number of male and female suicides each year from 1886 to 1905.

Table I.
Total Suicides—Male and Female—in England and Wales,
1886–1905, together with the annual rate per million living
(Registrar-Generals Reports).

Year.	Male.	Female.	Total.	Suicide-rate  per Million Living.
1886	1694	560	2254	82
1890	1635	570	2205	77
1895	2071	726	2797	92
1896	1979	677	2656	86
1897	2090	702	2792	90
1898	2166	711	2877	91
1899	2121	723	2844	89
1900	2166	730	2896	90
1901	2318	803	3121	96
1902	2460	807	3267	99
1903	2640	871	3511	105
1904	2523	822	3345	99
1905	2683	862	3545	104
Total.	28,546	9564	38,110	—

The reason of the high suicide-rate in some countries as compared with others, and the causes of its progressive increase, are not easily determined. Various explanations have been offered, such as the influence of climate, the comparative prevalence of insanity, and the proportionate consumption of alcoholic drinks, but none satisfactorily accounts for the facts. It may, however, be remarked that suicide is much more common amongst Protestant than amongst Roman Catholic communities, while Jews have a smaller suicide-rate than Roman Catholics. A point of considerable interest is the increase of suicide in relation to the advance of elementary education. Ogle states that suicide is more common among the educated than the illiterate classes. It is also more prevalent in urban than in rural districts. A curious feature in large towns is the sudden outbreak of self-destruction which sometimes occurs, and which has led to its being described as epidemic. In such cases force of example and imitation undoubtedly play a considerable part, as it is well recognized that both these forces exert an influence not only in causing suicide, but also in suggesting the method, time and place for the act. No age above five years is exempted from furnishing its quota of suicidal deaths, although self-destruction between five and ten years is very rare. Above this age the proportion of suicides increases at each period, the maximum being reached between fifty-five and sixty-five. Among females there is a greater relative prevalence at earlier age periods than among males. The modes of suicide are found to vary very slightly in different countries. Hanging is most common amongst males; then drowning, injuries from fire-arms, stabs and cuts, poison and precipitation from heights. Amongst females, drowning comes first, while poison and hanging are more frequent than other methods entailing effusion of blood and disfigurement of the person. The methods used in England and Wales by suicides during 1888–1897, and in Scotland during the years 1881–1897, are given in the following table:—

Table III.
Modes of Suicide in England and Wales, 1888–1897.

Order of Frequency.	Males.		Females.		Both Sexes.
	Mode.	Number.	Mode.	Number.	Mode.	Number.
1	Hanging	5669	Drowning	2089	Hanging	7005
2	Stab-cut	3594	Poison	1652	Drowning	5532
3	Drowning	3443	Hanging	1336	Stab-cut	4365
4	Poison	2264	Stab-cut	771	Poison	3916
5	Fire-arms	2152	Fire-arms	52	Fire-arms	2204
6	Otherwise	1773	Otherwise	527	Otherwise	2300
	Total	18,895	Total	6427	Total	25,322

 

Modes of Suicide in Scotland, 1881–1897.

Order of Frequency.	Males.		Females.		Both Sexes.
	Mode.	Number.	Mode.	Number.	Mode.	Number.
1	Hanging	741	Drowning	430	Drowning	1060
2	Drowning	630	Hanging	257	Hanging	998
3	Stab-cut	556	Poison	145	Stab-cut	700
4	Poison	257	Stab-cut	144	Poison	402
5	Fire-arms	245	Fire-arms	6	Fire-arms	251
6	Otherwise	207	Otherwise	100	Otherwise	307
	Total	2636	Total	1082	Total	3718

The season of the year influences suicide practically uniformly in all European countries, the number increasing from the commencement of the year to a maximum in May or June, and then declining again to a minimum in winter. Morselli attempts to account for this greater prevalence during what may well be called the most beautiful months of the year by attributing it to the influence of increased temperature upon the organism, while Durkheim suggests that the determining factor is more probably to be found in the length of the day and the effect of a longer period of daily activity. The suicide-rate is higher in certain male occupations and professions than in others (Ogle). Thus it is high amongst soldiers, doctors, innkeepers and chemists, and low for clergy, bargemen, railway drivers and stokers. The suicide-rate is twice as great for unoccupied males as for occupied males.

Authorities.—Morselli, Il Suicidio (Milan, 1879); Legoyt, Le Suicide ancien et modern (Paris, 1881); Westcott, Suicide: its History, Literature, &c. (London, 1885); Ogle, “Suicides in England and Wales, in relation to Age, Sex, Season, and Occupation,” Journal of the Statistical Society (1886), vol. xlix.; Strahan, Suicide and Insanity (London, 1893); Mayr, “Selbstmord statistik,” in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften (Jena, 1895); Durkheim, Le Suicide (Paris, 1897).  (H. H. L.)