Revisiting Durkheim: Social Integration and Suicide Clusters in U.S. Counties, 2006–2019

Abstract

Research dating back to Durkheim’s Suicide has linked high suicide rates to low social integration. Less research has examined community vulnerability to suicide clusters—characterized by an unusually high number of suicides in a time and place. In this study, we draw from recent qualitative research to hypothesize that social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters, in contrast to the classic Durkheimian hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, we examine the association between three measures of social integration (divorce, Catholic adherence, and residential stability) and a novel measure of suicide clusters in 469 U.S. counties from 2006 to 2019 using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS). We find that while social integration is negatively associated with suicide rates, social integration is positively associated with the emergence of suicide clusters. These findings shed light on the dual nature of social integration as both potentially protective and harmful for suicide.