NCJ Number
226703
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 307-320
Date Published
March 2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In examining the geographic distribution of female suicide in Iran, this study tested Durkheim’s (1951) theory of fatalistic suicide (suicide resulting from overregulation of behavior).
Abstract
The study found that Iranian provinces with lower levels of female education, female labor force participation, and urbanization had higher female suicide rates. The exclusion of Iranian women from many social and economic rights and benefits results in their restriction to a life solely within the home under the control/supervision of their husbands. This limited, passive role prevents women from shaping or participating in social developments. Although some legal, social, and political developments have benefited women in Iran, the traditional place of women in Iran’s patriarchal society still dominates the culture. This is especially true in less developed regions of the country, where women face severe confinement and restrictions because of the tribal structure of communities and the extreme fanaticism that prevails in many tribal areas. The restrictions on the roles and status of women may be compounded by the burdens of bearing and raising a large number of children and the domestic violence they may experience from their husbands. Fatalistic suicide among women in Iran is the result of social overregulation, such that suicide brings freedom from perceived intolerable misery, without hope that their lives will ever change. The study data were pooled from 25 provinces for the years 1997 to 2000. The dependent variable was the female suicide rate per 100,000. Data on suicide were provided by the Iran Women’s Participation Center (2001). Three independent variables were measured: female education, industrialization, and female participation in the labor force. These independent variables gauged the level of female oppression in each province. 3 tables and 42 references