Emile Durkheim’s Concept of Social Facts

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist. His goal was to establish sociology as an independent academic discipline. With this aim in mind, he published The Rules of Sociological Method in 1895 to describe the scientific method of inquiry in sociology. In the same publication, he introduced a new term, Social Fact, by defining sociology as the science of social facts.

Durkheim defined social facts as the ways of behaving that are external to the individual and that exert some force on the individual to shape their behavior.
The above explanation of social facts gives three characteristics of social facts, as follows:

1. Social facts are ways of behavior (e.g., acting, thinking, and feeling).
2. Social facts are external to the individual.
3. Social facts exert a force on the individual to shape their behavior.

These characteristics can be summed up to define social facts as external influences that shape the social behavior of an individual. They can refer to any external forces that influence us to behave in certain ways. For example, social norms and values can be seen as social facts. Social norms are the social expectations – that is, how an individual is expected to behave in a social context. In other words, they represent how others expect us to behave in a social context. In other words, social norms act as an external force that exerts coercive pressure on us to behave in a specific manner. In this way, social norms can be understood as social facts.

Durkheim defined sociology as the scientific study of social facts – external forces that compels us to behave in certain ways. However, Durkheim intentionally used the term social fact to avoid restricting the subject matter of sociology only to only one kind of external influence such as social norms. Therefore, social facts are not limited only to social norms and can include any external factor that exerts some force on an individual to behave in a specific manner. It is right to say that social norms are the major source of external influence that shape our behavior, however, there can also be other factors that form the basis for governing social behavior, such as formal laws, legal rules, the penal system, and so on. Therefore, social facts include all forces that are external to an individual and that exert some force on the individual to shape their behavior in different ways.

It is important to note that our social norms, values, customs, and traditions are the major social facts because these are external influences that shape the majority of our routine behavior. For this reason, most sociologists have interpreted social facts only as social norms and values. For instance, Catherine, a known British sociologist, argued that by the term social facts, Durkheim meant social norms and values. This interpretation of social facts is also supported by many other sociologists because social norms, values, customs, and traditions are basic determinants of social behavior. These are the main areas sociologists focus on to understand the social behavior of individuals.

■ Purpose of Introducing the Concept of Social Fact

Durkheim’s purpose of introducing the term social fact in the realm of sociology was:

1. To establish sociology as an independent discipline: Sociology was initially not a separate discipline but part of history and economics. Durkheim wanted to establish sociology as an independent discipline. To achieve this goal, he published many works arguing that sociology is not part of any other discipline but is itself a distinct field. He wanted sociology, like any other discipline, to have a common concept as the focus of all areas of its study. Therefore, he coined the term social fact to define sociology as the study of social facts. As noted above, the term social fact (as a determiner or influencer of social behavior) serves as a common focus across all areas of sociology.
2. To describe the subject matter of this newly emerging science: Durkheim contributed significantly to the field of sociology. He was the first academic sociologist, as the University of Bordeaux awarded him the first academic appointment in sociology in 1817. Through his practical efforts and scholarly contributions, sociology emerged as a new science. He presented his ideas in his published works to describe the subject matter of this newly emerging science. For instance, in his article The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), he laid down the foundation of the scientific method of inquiry for acquiring sociological knowledge. In the same publication, he defined sociology as the scientific study of social facts—the collective patterns of behavior. This offered the basic theme of sociological study, which is social behavior. The theme offered by the term social fact forms the basis for the different areas of the subject matter of sociology. In other words, different areas of sociology revolve around this basic theme—social facts.

■ Suicide as a Social Fact

Emile Durkheim published his famous Theory of Suicide in 1897. In this theory, he explored the phenomenon of suicide with regard to its causative factors. He believed that biological and psychological factors are insufficient to explain the act of suicide because the real causes of suicide are social factors. He argued that motives for suicide cannot be understood without probing its social causes.

He maintained that suicide is a social fact. Like any other behavior, suicidal behavior is shaped by external social factors. Certain social factors may make a person prone to suicide. These factors reside in the social context and may act as an external force on the individual to commit suicide.

For this reason, suicide can be seen as a behavior pattern in some areas. For instance, some countries have higher suicide rates than others. In countries with high suicide rates, the rates remained consistently high for a long time. For example, Hungary remained at the top in terms of high suicide rates for about half a century. Moreover, there are general similarities in the causes and methods of suicide in a specific region. For instance, in traditional societies, when the wife of an old farmer died, the farmer committed suicide, and this practice was repeated. It means that in some societies, suicide is a way of dealing with or resolving problems. The constant rate of suicide over time in a region, as well as similarities in causes and methods of suicide, reveal that:

1. Suicide is a behavior pattern.
2. There are social factors specific to the social context that influence suicide.

This implies that suicide is a social fact because social factors exert force on individuals to adopt a behavior pattern for committing suicide