Citation

Lester D. Sociol. Soc. Res. 1987; 71(3): 208.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, University of Southern California)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article compares suicide rates of European nations in the period 1871-1875 with the suicide rates of those nations in 1975. National suicide rates are relatively stable and thus suitable as target variables for sociological theories that seek to account for suicide rates. Furthermore the stability of national suicide rates over such a long period of time argues for their accuracy since national certification-of-death procedures by medical examiners would be expected to vary over such a long period.