Anomie is defined as a condition of normlessness resulting from a lack of purpose and a breakdown of organized structure (Britannica). Unemployment certainly contains a few of these aspects. The institution that you previously managed your time around no longer exists to you. Though you might believe you have a “greater” purpose in life, work is something that drags you out of bed and makes you wish you could crawl back in it. Therefore I would consider losing employment as a breakdown of structure as well as a loss of purpose.
The financial crisis started around the mid 2000s. With the crisis came a steep rise in unemployment in the United States. In 2005 unemployment was 5% at its lowest, and in 2009 that figure doubled to 10% at its highest (Bureau of Labor Statistics). These figures describe ages 16 and older. For the purpose of this discussion I’ve decided to focus on ages 34-64. Comfort presumably comes with age, so I would assume that unemployment would have the biggest affect on this group. This age brackets’ respective increase in unemployment went from roughly 4% to 7.5%, an 87.5% increase (Pew). It isn’t as high as total unemployment, but it is still nearly double the previous rate.
Now on to the morbid part. As previously mentioned, the national suicide rate also saw an increase during this time. The CDC reported an increase from slightly below 16 per 100,000 (persons) to over 19 per 100,000 for the 45-54 age group, and an increase from 13 to 15 per 100,000 for the 55-64 age group. The 35-44 age group managed to stay relatively the same, experiencing only a slight increase between 2005 and 2009 (CDC). That’s a whole lot of numbers. To make things easier to digest; the 45-54 age group increased almost 19%, and the 54-64 age group increased a little over 15% between 2005 and 2009.
As mentioned above, anomie is the loss of structure and purpose. Gabriel Acevedo describes the anomic condition as, “When individuals feel they are not integrated into the greater whole of society”(2005:80). In an organic society, all individuals have a certain form or function. These functions are specific, and cause individuals to become dependent on one another. Much like actual organs, if one fails there could be serious consequences for the others. Considering that work is our main function in this society, losing it would result in losing one’s function. In turn, this could cause one to feel as if they are no longer a part of the greater whole of society. With this would come the sense of aimlessness associated with too little regulation. In the statistics provided, both factors saw an increase between 2005 and 2009. That is why I believe there to be a positive correlation between unemployment and suicide. Both factors start their ascent at relatively the same time. Though, further research would need to be done to establish time order. As the financial crisis ensues and unemployment rises, there is a similar rise in suicide rate. It would be impossible to determine causality between these two variables. There are simply too many other factors that could cause one to consider suicide. Though the parallel rise between the two, and the examination of unemployment under an anomic lens, suggest a potential correlation.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/trends05.html
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2012/02/SDT-Youth-and-Economy.pdf
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/26587/anomie
Acevedo, Gabriel A. 2005. "Turning Anomie on its Head: Fatalism as Durkheim's Concealed and Multidimensional Alienation Theory*." Sociological Theory 23(1):75-85. doi: 10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00243.x.