Discuss the institution of marriage (including widowhood and young marriage) from the point of
view of Durkheim’s theories about suicide. What did Durkheim find was the relationship between
marriage (including variants upon the state of matrimony) and rates of suicide? How did this vary by
gender? How did marriage relate to Durkheim’s ideas about Egoistic and Fatalistic suicide? How did
marriage as an institution and a family arrangement manage to affect suicide rates? Be certain to
include in your answer a discussion of Durkheim’s underlying social theories and specifics of
marriage as a mechanism in mitigating or exacerbating suicide rates.
