An Analysis of Suicide Rates

                         1951 and 1988


Suicide in itself seems to be an individual and personal act, but
there is a related social dimension, for each suicide affects others
and is a threat to our American values.  It would seem logical that
suicidal motives depend upon the expectations of a culture and the
individual's capacity to reach these expectations.

Emile Durkheim's Suicide, published in 1897, saw rising suicide rates
in the western world, and he explained this rise as a function of the
failure of the state, church, and the family.  He believed those most
vulnerable to suicide were those most separated from religious,
social, and familial groups.  Most vulnerable of all were those who
experienced a disruption in their social relations.  A widowed or
divorced person, for example, suffers a disruption. 

In this study I attempt to trace the age-specific patterns of suicide
in the United States during 1951 and 1988 so that a deeper awareness
of this social problem may be gained.  Most notable is the uniform,
high suicide rate among the elderly, which has received little public
attention. 
Data

This table explains the number of suicides per 100,000 in 1951 and
1988 in the United States.  There are age and gender divisions.

______________________________________________________________________
    Number of Male and Female Suicides by Age, 1951 and 1988

               15-24   25-34   35-44   45-54   55-64   65-74    75+

1951 (male)     6.1    13.2    20.3    29.0    37.8    52.0    57.9
1951 (female)   2.3     4.8     7.4     9.0     8.8     9.6     8.2

1988 (male)    21.9    25.0    22.9     21.7   25.0    33.0    57.8
1899 (female)	4.2     5.7     6.9      7.9    7.2     6.8     6.4
______________________________________________________________________

The 1988 rates are directly from The Statistical Abstract of 1991. 
The 1951 rates were derived from the number of suicides in 1951,

stated in Vital Statistics of the United States, 1951, Vol. 2, and    
          the 1950 population rate, stated in The Statistical Abstract
          of 1951 (from the 1950 census).


The overall trend for males in 1951 reflects a considerable increase
in suicides from one age cohort to the next (The older the age cohort,
the greater the suicide rate).  The greatest increase is from the
55-64 cohort  to the 65-74 cohort.  This is an increase of 14.2
suicides per 100,000.  For 1951 females, rates also increase from  the
15-24 age cohort  to the 45-54 cohort, but then the rates level out,
with the 75+ group dropping slightly.  The female rates are
considerably lower than the male rates.  In fact, for the 75+ cohort,
the male rate is 600% that of the female rate.

Female suicide rates in 1988 are much lower than the comparable male
rates.  There is also a greater male-female rate difference in 1988
than in 1951(See Graph 3).

1988 females reflect a pattern very similar to that of the 1951
females (See Graph 2).  They also illustrate an increase from the
15-24 age cohort, and primarily level out in the later age groups,
with only a slight decrease in the final group.  Although the patterns
are similar, the actual rates from 1951 to 1988 increase in the first
and second categories.  The other categories reflect a decrease in
suicide rates.  This is very surprising to me; I expected an increase
at all levels, due to the increased demands upon women in the 1980's. 
(I believe that women now are not only allowed, but expected, to be
more multi-dimensional, no longer adhering to a homemaker role.  With
this advantage comes disadvantages; I believe many women feel they
have to fulfill  a homemaking role and a "new woman" or "woman of the
nineties" role).  

Perhaps the rates drop at lower levels because these women are more
comfortable in the present, freer environment, and do not feel the
stresses that younger women feel; these older age groups established
their life patterns before the roles and expectations of women
drastically changed.  They are a part of an older age cohort,
consequently, the "newer woman" concept applies less to them.

The age-specific pattern of the 1988 males is very different from the
1951 males (See Graph 1).  From the 15-24 cohort to the 55-64 cohort, 
the rate is fairly consistent.  But from the 55-64 cohort to the 65-75
cohort, the rate jumps from twenty-five to thirty-three, and from the
65-74 cohort to the 75+ cohort, the rate jumps three times the
previous increase.  Thus, this pattern is very different from the 1951
pattern.

The numbers themselves are also very different; there is a dramatic
increase in suicide rates for the first two age cohorts, and for the
75+ cohort, the rates are identical.

If suicide rates are affected by cultural expectations, and an
individual's capacity to fulfill them, it must be inferred that
cultural expectations for the first two age cohorts have increased
dramatically over the last thirty years, but remained fairly constant
for those in the oldest age cohort.  Could it be that males in these
cohorts are threatened by successful women, a newer concept in our
culture?  Another possible reason is that there has been a trend
towards higher education in the United States over the last decades. 
Thus, greater demands are placed upon this age cohort.

Perhaps another reason, which Hendin discusses in Suicide in America
(p. 60), is that a larger birth cohort has increased levels of stress
and suicides at every age level as shown through demographic evidence.
 As the stresses of age come to bear on this cohort (losing friends,
relatives, the onset of physical problems), perhaps this already high
suicide rate will become even higher.

Why is it that suicide rates are so high among the elderly?   Males
seventy-five and older in 1951 and 1988 reflect a suicide rate of
fifty-eight per every 100,000; this is the highest rate of the table. 
Elderly women also have high suicide rates.  Could it be that the
elderly no longer feel "functional" or useful to those around them? 
Hendin state the "since the suicide rate among older people, although
high, has been relatively constant, it has not created sudden alarm."

The 1973 American Psychiatric Association report, "Mental Illness in
Later Life" states that an older person's attempt at suicide is
usually directed by an intention of dying (Suicide rates for younger
cohorts often suggest the need for more parental or peer group
attention).

Hendin suggests that an older person's first attempt reflects a desire
for attention, and subsequent attempts are more serious.  Similarly,
Durkheim believed where  social mobility and social isolation are
common, suicide rates increase.  It would be logical, then, to assume
higher rates of suicide among the elderly.

My findings illustrate similarities and differences of suicide rates
when comparing rates from 1951 and 1988.  Male rates are always
remarkably higher than female rates.  The rates of suicide among the
elderly are most alarming.  I suggest a more thorough explanation of
suicide rates among the elderly; it seems that many do not realize the
height of these rates, and those who are aware of these rates do not
seem very shocked because these rates have remained consistently high
for many years.  Further exploration of these and related issues will
hopefully lead to a more concerned and more aware society.