Sex, marital status and suicide : a replication and refinement of the work of W. R. Gove
Date
1974
Authors
Chisholm, Lynne Alison
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Abstract
An attempt is made in this study to provide empirical support for widely-held beliefs concerning the problematic nature of the adult female role in modern society by looking at suicidal behaviour. The concept at the core of this discussion of women's role is that of role conflict, and it is assumed that married women, and more especially, married and employed women, are the groups most at risk from stress {and its consequences) engendered by such role conflict. Suicide is regarded as an indicator of stress.
Four hypotheses were tested, using Canadian data, which involved both replication and extension of the recent work conducted in the United States by W.R. Gove {1972a). Using the coefficient of preservation developed by Durkheim (1951) as a measure, it was found that (i) women in Canada are less protected by marriage against suicide than are men, and (ii) the shift from being married to being widowed and divorced has a more negative impact upon men than women in Canada. These findings support Gove. However, Gove's finding from United States data that the discrepancy between the degree of protection afforded by marriage from suicide for males and females was increasing over time was not supported in this study. A further proposition, derived from Gove, that married and employed women will be at greater risk of role conflict and hence enjoy a lesser degree of protection against suicide than women married but not employed was not supported.
The overall results of this study can be most economically interpreted in terms of Durkheim's theory of integration as a protection against suicide. If the differences in male and female suicidal behaviour as reported here can be explained in terms of role strain, a more complex explanation than that favoured by Gove is needed. An alternative explanation involving both role conflict and role rewards is also suggested.