INFLUENCE OF FAMILY LIFE 205 



II. 



Before proceeding to the theoretical considerations which 

 justify the view that the suicide-rate of a society corresponds 

 to the degree of integration of that society, we shall submit some 

 additional statistics to broaden the empirical basis from which 

 alone any scientific conclusion can be drawn. 



Just as the suicide-rate varies according as the religious beliefs 

 of different societies vary ; so it varies also according as the 

 stabiUty of family life is great or not. Just as the religious 

 institutions of a society are a factor in ensuring the integration 

 of that society, which will diminish in so far as these institutions 

 leave greater room for individualism to develop ; so does the 

 integration of the domestic institutions correspond to the general 

 level of the integration of society as a whole. The greater the 

 stability of family life, the smaller will be the number of suicides. 

 The following figures will help us to appreciate the influence of 

 family Ufe on suicide : 



iNFLirENCE OF FAMILY LiPE ON SuiCIDB IN BOTH SbXES (FbANCB, 



1887-91). 

 Stjicide-Ratb CALCtriiATED PBB 1,000,000 Inhabitants op each Catb- 



GOBY. (AVBBAGB RaTE DUEING PeBIOD OP PiVB YbAES.) 



Bachelors of 43 years of age 975 | Spinsters of 42 years of age . . 150 



Married men with children . . 336 

 Married men without chil- 

 dren . . . . . . 644 



Bachelors of 60 years of age 1,504 

 Widowers with children . . 937 

 Widowers without children 1,258 



Married women with children 79 

 Married women without chil- 

 dren 221 



Spinsters of 60 years of age . . 196 

 Widows with children . . 186 



Widows without children . . 322 



Let us briefly consider these figures. 



Among the men, the suicide-rate is highest in the case of 

 bachelors of sixty years of age ; and this is but an a posteriori 

 confirmation of an a priori hypothesis. For if the suicide-rate, 

 as we have said, is a phenomenon closely connected with the 

 integration and cohesion of society ; and if it diminishes as the 



