Citation

Watt JR. J. Fam. Hist. 1996; 21(1): 63-86.

Affiliation

University of Mississippi, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, National Council On Family Relations, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11609025

Abstract

Analysis of criminal proceedings and death records for early modern Geneva reveals an explosion in suicides after 1750. New attitudes toward courtship, marriage, and the familly contributed to this dramatic increase, as unprecedented numbers of people took their lives because of family concerns, such as marital breakdown, unhapppy love stories, and deaths of family members. Greater interest in the companionate marriage was central to these changes. After 1750, marriage, even more than parenthood, offered immunity to suicide, as married people were underrepresented among those who took their lives. Although men constituted the large majority of suicides, women and men shared the growing emphasis on conjugal sentiment, which cut across class lines.

Language: en