Social integration and suicide in the Caribbean Islands

Among the Caribbean islands, suicide rates were higher for the more populous islands, confirming a prediction from Durkheim. (Au)

"Disorganization," adaptation, and arterial blood pressure

The relationship between sociological factors and arterial blood pressure in St. Lucia, in the West Indies, is examined in this paper. Some epidemiological research has suggested that "social disorganization" contributes to poor health status. Furthermore, it has been argued that the Afro-American family is a "disorganized social unit," a social pathology resulting from slavery and oppression and contributing to poor health. An alternative view is that the distinctive Afro-American family patterns found in the West Indies are adaptations to economic marginality and, as such, should contribute to better health status. Quantitative and qualitative data are used to select the more credible of these opposed predictions. The implications of the results are discussed (AU)