In this dissertation the author tests Naroll's "thwarting disorientation" theory of suicide further by testing hypotheses using individual suicide cases described in ethnography. Author also considered the societal factors that could create stress.

This article reviews sociological and psychological explanations of suicide, focusing on a thwarting disorientation theory. This theory posits that a person who commits suicide is likely to have lost social ties and perceived someone to blame for that loss. The author examines seven cultural traits (wife-beating, marriage restrictions, divorce freedom, witchcraft accusation, drunken brawling, defiant homicide, and frequent warfare) that can cause thwarting disorientation.

This study investigates the thwarting disorientation theory of suicide, suggesting that the rate of suicide in a society can be predicted from thwarting disorientation traits such as men’s divorce freedom and defiant homicide.

This study explores the concept of "healthy" and "sick" societies. The author considers indicators of stress as correlates of sick and healthy societies and finds that the best indicator of the sickness or healthiness of a society is its suicide rate.

This study examines the relationship between social complexity and frequency of suicide. Empirical analysis suggests a positive association between these variables. The author discusses the usefulness of Durkheimian and thwarting disorientation theories in interpreting the findings.

Authors examine suicidality within small-scale non-industrial societies. They use ethnographic data to test two models: deCatanzaro's inclusive fitness model and the bargaining model (suicide attempts as a costly signal of need). Limited support is found for deCatanzaro's inclusive fitness model while strong support is found for the bargaining model. Support for deCatanzaro's inclusive fitness model increased with increasing latitude; authors suggest that in climactically-harsher environments, in which elderly or infirm individuals may impose a higher burden on kin, completed suicide occurs more because it might increase inclusive fitness. Fit of and support for each model were differentially age-dependent.

Rootman tests a formulation of Durkheim's (1897) theory of suicide. Independent variables include the amount a society, group, or social condition is integrated or regulated.

This paper tests assumptions regarding the inverse relationship between murder and suicide. Analysis suggests that murder and suicide in fact vary together, and they are also positively associated with overall punishment in a society.

Building on previous research concerning murder and suicide, this study investigates 18 forms of aggression and explores how they might be engendered by certain child-training practices. Results show a weak connection between most forms of aggression and child-training practices, but non-literate societies do show a positive correlation between murder and suicide. The author develops a theory positing that experience of social blockage will be related to outwardly-directed aggression, whereas social loss will be related to inwardly-directed aggression.

Researchers coded 473 texts from 53 cultures on suicidal behavior in the Probability Sample Files looking for evidence to support a new theoretical framework called the Costly Apology Model (signaling "I am genuinely remorseful for my actions, and you can trust that I will not do it again," (7)) to explain suicidal behavior that occurs after someone violates one or more social norms. This is theorized to be distinct behavior from the Bargaining Model (signaling "My fitness is genuinely being threatened, and I need your support." (7)) which could explain suicidal behavior after someone suffers harm from another, and from the Inclusive Fitness Model, where suicide occurs as a fitness behavior when an individual cannot reproduce or has a high cost to the fitness of their kin. .