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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2004.053314v1 95/7/1139    most recent Submit a response View responses View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kushner, H. I. Articles by Sterk, C. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kushner, H. I. Articles by Sterk, C. E. Related Collections Community Health Gender Social Science Mental Health Prevention History

Howard I. Kushner, PhD and Claire E. Sterk, PhD

Howard I. Kushner is with the Rollins School of Public Health, the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts, and the Center for the Study of Health, Culture, and Society at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. Claire E. Sterk is with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Howard I. Kushner, PhD, Rollins School of Public Health, 5th floor, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 (e-mail: hkushne{at}sph.emory.edu).

Recent applications of social capital theories to population health often draw on classic sociological theories for validation of the protective features of social cohesion and social integration. Durkheim’s work on suicide has been cited as evidence that modern life disrupts social cohesion and results in a greater risk of morbidity and mortality—including self-destructive behaviors and suicide.

We argue that a close reading of Durkheim’s evidence supports the opposite conclusion and that the incidence of self-destructive behaviors such as suicide is often greatest among those with high levels of social integration. A reexamination of Durkheim’s data on female suicide and suicide in the military suggests that we should be skeptical about recent studies connecting improved population health to social capital.

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