Social determinants of suicides in the Czech republic between 1995 and 2010

Abstract

The text is concerned with suicides in the Czech Republic. It seeks to determine which social variables, and to what extent, have affected suicidal behaviour since 1989. The authors draw on Durkheim’s theory that society prevents suicidal tendencies. They formulate six hypotheses to account for the effects of social variables (year, sex, age, education, and marital status) on suicide rates, which they test using data from 1995 to 2010. Their fi ndings show that time weakens the odds for committing suicides. Regardless of the time, women and people who are young, more educated, and living in a marriage face the lowest risk of suicide. That marriage works as a shield against suicide is especially true for men (its protective function for women is signifi cantly lower). In the period observed, there was a relative increase in the effect of two social variables: middle age (45-69 years) and lower education. The structure of variables explaining suicide rates changed during the time period observed.