Urbanism and Suicide: A Study of American Counties

Kowalski, Gregory S.; Faupel, Charles E.; Starr, Paul D.

doi:10.1093/sf/66.1.85

Cited by 77 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Elderly suicide rates may decline in countries at an advanced stage of urbanization. This is consistent with the observation of a negative correlation between urbanization and male suicide rates in the general population in Japan (Araki & Murata, 1986; Otsu et al, 2004) and in the general population in the United States (Kowalski et al, 1987), particularly in the most urban U.S. counties (Kowalski et al, 1987). Both two countries are at an advanced stage of urbanization.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Some cross‐national (Simpson & Concklin, 1989) and single country (Stack, 1993) studies have reported a positive correlation between urbanization and general population suicide rates; however, studies from advanced industrialized countries, including suicide rates in the U.S. general population (Kowalski, Faupel, & Starr, 1987) and male suicide rates in the general population in Japan (Araki & Murata, 1986; Otsu, Araki, Sakai, Yokoysma, & Voorhees, 2004), have reported a negative correlation. Moreover, a large cross‐national study reported no such relationship (Zhang, 1998).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Cross‐National Study of the Relationship Between Elderly Suicide Rates and Urbaninzation

Shah

2008

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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There is mixed evidence of a relationship between suicide rates in the general population and urbanization, and a paucity of studies examining this relationship in the elderly. A cross-national study with curve estimation regression model analysis, was undertaken to examine the a priori hypothesis that the relationship between elderly suicide rates and urbanization would be curvilinear and follow an inverted U-shaped curve. There was a curvilinear relationship between male suicide rates in both the elderly age-bands and the percentage of the population living in urban areas, but this was not observed in females. A three-stage sequential model was developed to explain the observed relationship between suicide rates in elderly males and urbanization. The relationship between suicide rates in elderly females and urbanization.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cross‐National Study of the Relationship Between Elderly Suicide Rates and Urbaninzation

Shah

2008

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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“…But, in a study of counties (parishes) in Louisiana, Bankston and his colleagues (1983) find no overall influence of Catholicism but do report a higher suicide rate correlated with a higher proportion Catholic in non-Catholic parishes (those non-French, southern). Kowalski, Faupel, and Starr (1987) find social integration (including Catholic and Protestant affiliation) is important in large urban counties but not in rural ones. From a network perspective, these discrepancies are not problematic: they result from the specific constraints of context on community formation and strength.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

The Social Context of Religious Integration and Suicide: Pursuing the Network Explanation

Pescosolido

1990

The Sociological Quarterly

111

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Recent research suggests that Durkheimian ideas on the impact of religious affiliation on suicide need to be updated and tailored to the modern cultural landscape of the United States. Following up on the importance of how historical context has shifted the integrative power of denominational networks, this article pursues the potential utility of a networks, perspective by suggesting that a significant contextual element has been neglected to date: Geographical context, both regional and rural‐urban dimensions, also delimits the differential ability of religions to form a “community’ of social support capable of integrating individuals. If the network approach provides a useful direction, the effects of religious affiliation across geographical areas should vary in a manner consistent with notions of how social structural opportunity and tradition (of lack thereof) affect religious network strength. Analyses of detailed suicide, religion, and sociodemographic data by region and population density in U.S. county groups do, in fact, indicate that for many major religious groups the effects of religious affiliation on suicide vary across geographical areas, consistent with network theory. For example, while Judaism's protective effect is small overall, it is large in the Northeast and reversed in the South. The protective strength also is reversed for Catholicism in the South and many Evangelical Protestant groups in the Northeast. Overall, the results suggest that region exerts a greater impact on religious affiliation effects than does population density, though the latter does impact on Catholic and Jewish effects.

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“…Research on income inequality and suicide is mixed. For 3,000 U.S. counties, the degree of income inequality is unrelated to suicide in one model (Breault, 1988) and related in another (Kowalski, Faupel, & Starr, 1987). However, if the analysis is restricted to either the middle or top third of counties in urbanization, urban counties being ones that provide better social conduits for promoting relative deprivation, the greater the income inequality, the greater the suicide rate (Kowalski et al, 1987).…”

Section: Class Income and Income Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide: A 15‐Year Review of the Sociological Literature Part I: Cultural and Economic Factors

Stack

2000

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

330

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Cultural and economic patterns from 130 sociological works on suicide from 1981 to 1995 are reviewed in this article. The traditional Durkheimian perspective on suicide was often questioned by research on the impact of the mass media, alcohol, class, modernization, religion, and politics. Major theoretical developments included the application of differential identification theory to Phillips's model of copycat suicide, the application of criminology's opportunity theory to suicide, and new explanations for the link between alcohol and the social suicide rate. Explanations are reviewed for the major new suicide trend: after half a century of convergence, male and female suicide rates are diverging. Finally, the review notes patterns of continued stability in suicide research findings in areas such as racial differences and economic strain.

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Urbanism and Suicide: A Study of American Counties

Cited by 77 publications

References 43 publications

A Cross‐National Study of the Relationship Between Elderly Suicide Rates and Urbaninzation

A Cross‐National Study of the Relationship Between Elderly Suicide Rates and Urbaninzation

The Social Context of Religious Integration and Suicide: Pursuing the Network Explanation

Suicide: A 15‐Year Review of the Sociological Literature Part I: Cultural and Economic Factors

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