HSB4U Challenge and Change in Society Seemans Theory/Durkheim
& Suicide/ The Bully Debrief
Slide 2
The Bully Project- a debrief Bully follows the real life
experiences of several children and youth as they experience
bullying in their schools in the United States. It also tells the
stories of two boys who committed suicide due to the bullying they
experienced.
Slide 3
The movie is shocking, disturbing, and powerful, evoking many
different types of emotions. The rating for the movie Bully was
originally given a controversial R rating. Why would this rating be
problematic?
Slide 4
Slide 5
Lets take a critical, multi-faceted look at this film
Slide 6
The Irony How ironic does it seem to rate a movie restricted,
when this is the reality that kids face every day of their lives?
Contrast the rating of Bully to other movies that appear to be more
violent with a lesser rating, such as PG-13. What conclusions can
you make based on the above comparissons?
Slide 7
Barriers to Access (to the Film) Releasing the film into
theatres where people have to purchase tickets to see it limits who
gets to access it, as opposed to screening it for free in schools.
Screening the film in a school setting allows for debriefing
following the film, which is very necessary with Bully.
Slide 8
Language Used The filmmakers chose to use language such as
fight bullying, or call for an army to combat bullying, which may
seem problematic to many. Why might that be?
Slide 9
Parent/Teacher/School Involvement Parents and teachers involved
in these situations seemed to make things worse rather than better.
Several scenes showed teachers and principals minimizing the
problem, denying that violence had occurred, and using their
authority to silence childrens experiences of bullying. This can be
referred to as Victim Blaming Many of the parents seemed at a loss
Seemingly putting more stress on the bullied child by putting the
responsibility to stand up to bullying onto the child without an
understanding of how severe the bullying was.
Slide 10
Under-representation Children and youth of colour in this film.
There was only 1 story out of 5 that followed a person of colour.
Young Black girl in a detention centre= problematic as it
reinforces stereotypes of people of colour as criminals. Kelbys
story- the lesbian lens is also given less air time How does this
reflect the ideologies a particular culture, location etc? This
girls story also seemed to get the least amount of air time in the
film and did not seem to be explored as deeply as some of the other
stories.
Slide 11
Question: Identify and explain which of Durkheims suicide types
best describes the source of most adolescent suicides today.
Slide 12
Lets take a look at suicide types through newspaper articles
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.3
60/blog/2006/06/new-orleans-suicide-rate-nearly.html
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.3
60/blog/2006/06/new-orleans-suicide-rate-nearly.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/12/11/bernie
_madoffs_son_found_dead_in_apparent_suicide.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/12/11/bernie
_madoffs_son_found_dead_in_apparent_suicide.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24604558 Can you
differentiate between the different types of suicide, according to
Emile Durkheim?
Slide 13
Seemans Theory Social Isolation that could be classified into 5
distinct elements Powerlessness, meaninglessness, normalessness,
social isolation, and self-estrangement Powerlessness: Belief held
by the individual that his/her behaviour cannot determine a desired
outcome. A person who has an alcohol dependence may feel
powerlessness, because they cannot bridge the gap between wanting
to become sober, and drinking more alcohol.
Slide 14
Powerlessness comes about when the individual does not believe
to have the necessary skills or means to accomplish desired goals*
Meaninglessness contributes to alienation; people feel a sense of
meaninglessness when they are unable to predict outcomes of their
behaviour or future behaviour; Whats the point? mentality An
individual eat, sleeps, works, and repeats his daily habits without
knowing where his life is leading, with no particular future goals.
He feels a strong sense of loneliness and despair.
Slide 15
Normlessness or ANOMIE happens when society ceases to provide
meaning, function or moral direction to individuals This leads to a
break down of responsibility, connection and involvement Isolation
can result, alienation and then by definition Chaos. How does this
happen? Rules are too rigid Disconnect occurs Norms, expectations
do not match the desires of the individual
Slide 16
Social Isolation is usually experienced as a form of personal
stress, rooted in social organization and institutions to which the
individual belongs= segregation from ones community Someone who has
decided to break free from the norm is now isolated from his/her
community; i.e. someone from a religious community who has decided
to go against the teaching of his/her religion would be socially
isolated from their religious institution= segregated.
Slide 17
Self-Estrangement is the state of emotional and psychological
being in which the individual denies or opposes personal interests
and prefers to engage in impersonal, external activities to satisfy
needs. Gradually becoming a stranger to oneself The more
self-alienated we become, the less attuned we are to our real
wants, needs, hopes, and dreams= increasingly more difficult for a
self-estranged person to find real joy in life= life starts to lose
meaning= we no longer have any idea what might bring us a sense of
purpose or fulfillment. -Result? Possible Suicide
Slide 18
Durkheim and Suicide Suicide is related with the type of social
alienation that Seeman refers to Social relationships a guiding
force contributing to suicidal tendencies amongst adolescents?
Emile Durkheim tried to explain suicide: examination of the social
problem of suicide Deterioration/collapse due to highly overbearing
social relationships
Slide 19
3 Distinct Types of Suicide Altruistic Suicide: Individual will
commit suicide for the perceived benefit of the group; dying for a
greater social cause Egoistic Suicide: Not part of a social group,
overpowering sense of responsibility= guilt over perceived moral
weakness/failure; isolated and helpless in times of stress Anomic
Suicide: Responds to social change negatively, no clear modes of
behaviour to guide individual= confusion, life is meaningless,
brought on by major disruption in life (death)