Durkheim's sociology and theories of degeneration

This Paper explores the relationshipbetween theories of degeneracy inspired by medicine and psychiatry in the nineteenth century and the sociological theory of Emile Durkheim. After briefly reviewing the main themes of degeneracy theory, there follows an analysis of Durkheim's writings of the 1880s and 1890s and 1890s on crime, suicide and birth-rates. The paper argues, first, that Durkheim's relationship to degeneracy theory is considerably more complex than is generally portrayed in the secondary literature and undergoes considerable modification over time: second, that Durkheim's theoretical efforts were not only aimed at sociological as opposed to biological explanations of the phenomena studied by theorists of degeneration, but also grounded a new normative understanding of these phenomena that was consonant with the humanitarian ideals of ethical individualism.