One of the targets of Durkheim's criticism, in his masterly book Le Suicide (1897), is the view upheld (according to him) by all 19th-century French alienists that suicide was, in all cases, a form of madness (henceforth, the ‘absolutist’ or ‘psychiatric’ hypothesis). Durkheim's view is important, particularly among sociologists, and lest they, and other readers, are led uncritically to accept his version of 19th-century French psychiatric views on suicide, it would seem important to put the historical record straight. The relevant literature is vast, and only representative writers are included in this paper. It is not the purpose of this paper to deal, in any way, with Durkheim's sociological views. (This is being done by Mohanna & Berrios (1990)).
The ITMQ is a measure of suicidal and self-harming motives/meanings based on a sound conceptual framework and could significantly contribute to the understanding of suicidal and self-harming behaviour in research and clinical settings.
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