Suicide in Guyana: A Sociological Analysis * Duane Edwards † April 22, 2016 Abstract Guyana is currently listed among the five countries internationally with the highest suicide rates. The traditional sociological theories are inadequate when used to assess the high rate of suicide in Guyana. Data on suicide in Guyana goes against the dominant sociological explanations in every way possible. Against Durkheim’s solidarity theory, suicide occurs predominantly among the group with the highest levels of social, political and religious soli- darity. And against the imitation and diffusion theories of suicide, the suicide rate is largely restricted among one ethnic group in Guyana. This paper takes a sociological approach to the study of suicide in Guyana by examining data collected by the Ministry of Health. The data is used to question the theoretical accuracy and applicability of dominant theories of suicide in relation to Guyana. It also analyses the historical and cultural specificities and peculiarities of the three dominant ethnic groups in Guyana and concludes that the high rate of suicide among one ethnic group results from a combination of social and cultural factors. The social factors have to do with the specific way in which the ethnic subsystem relates with the larger social system, while the cultural factors relates to intraethnic cultural prescriptions which are facing strain from the larger cultural system. Keywords: Suicide in Guyana, Theory of Suicide, Durkheim, Tarde, Suicidology * This paper was prepared for presentation at Guyana’s Golden Jubilee Symposium Series, May 2016, Georgetown, Guyana † Duane Edwards is currently a graduate student at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Email: duane.edwards@mycavehill.uwi.edu