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.

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.

Authors suggest that suicide is more likely to occur in contexts where an individual's social ties are threatened, weakened, or broken, causing social dislocation (thwarting-disorientation contexts). Results support this hypothesis.

This paper is an investigation into the relationship between social differentiation as a proxy for societal 'development' and various categories of crime. A positive relationship is interpreted by the author as empirical cross-cultural support for Durkheim's theory that these two factors will increase together as parallel processes of 'sociocultural evolution'.

"Seven of Max Weber's ideal-typical specifications for 'rational bureaucracy' are reformulated as a system of three 'bureaucratic' and four 'rational' variables. It is proposed that (a) bureaucratic variables are positively associated; (b) rational variables are positively associated; but that (c) rational variables are negatively associated with bureaucratic variables." Hypotheses are supported.

This article investigates how population density affects social behavior, particularly whether it is a cause of stress in humans that manifests in pathological behavior or mistreatment of children. Analysis indicates that population density is not a cause of these behaviors, and with some variables (such as with divorce and sexual anxiety), there is a negative association with population density.

In this study, the authors analyze relationships between witchcraft accusations and the gender of the accused. They find that men are most often accused of witchcraft in their sample of 54 Bantu or Bantoid societies, and are particularly more likely to be accused of witchcraft by unrelated or blood-related individuals or in disputes over wealth or prestige. On the other hand, women are more likely to be accused of witchcraft in affinal relationships, particularly husbands and co-wives, and in situations related to fertility or relationships. Elderly women were also more likely to be accused of witchcraft than elderly men. The authors also examined outcomes of witchcraft accusations, finding that 81% of cases resulted in a negative outcome for the accused. They suggest that competition underlies accusations of witchcraft.

Drawing from Social Darwinism theories, this article posits warfare (specifically, military success) as a selective mechanism in the evolution of culture. The hypothesis was not supported.

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.