Elder Suicide: Durkheim’s Vision
Date Available: NOW
Date Expires: 12/10/21
Course Type: Live and then recorded webinar
Sponsor Name: NASW-National
Course Registration Link: http://www.socialworkers.org
CE Value (credits): 4.5
CE Type: Standard
Contact Information:
Kristal Shavers
202-408-8600
Course Description:
Suicide among the elderly occurs at a higher rate than those of other age cohorts, is more successful, and has the lowest rates of failed attempts. Gerontological practitioners must be aware of what leads to elder suicide, as the victims are unlikely to call attention to the matter themselves before they make an attempt.
Stephen Marson has spent over 40 years as a practicing social work gerontologist, studying the sociological theories for suicide intervention of elderly clients. Ultimately, Marson determined that Emile Durkheim’s theory of suicide was the perfect fit for understanding suicidal distress in the elderly. Rather than focusing on psychological diagnoses, he uses Durkheim’s theory to identify fatalistic, anomic, egoistic, and altruistic environmental circumstances that create suicide potential.
Marson addresses these four dimensions, and explores the gerontological research and social history that illustrate the evidence. He then presents various intervention strategies that will help practitioners to identify social factors (for example, age, gender, education, and marriage) that provide clues into the potentially suicidal patient and establish an intervention strategy to address suicide based on the social environment