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 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.

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.

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.