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The Social Autopsy

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Timmermans
  • Pamela J. Prickett

Abstract

The social autopsy takes the death of a set of individuals as its starting point and then critically and systematically examines social and political conditions to explain these deaths and generate awareness and policy change. After distinguishing the social autopsy from other means to explain excess and premature deaths, we delineate three core methodological principles of the social autopsy: social relevance as a guiding criterion to sample the deaths to be autopsied, embedding the patterning of deaths in social worlds, and a focus on contextual causality and social mechanisms. We provide three contemporary examples of excess deaths calling out for social autopsies: school shootings, Black deaths at the hands of police, and migrant border deaths.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Timmermans & Pamela J. Prickett, 2023. "The Social Autopsy," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(4), pages 1681-1706, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:4:p:1681-1706
    DOI: 10.1177/00491241211036163
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wayne A. Cornelius, 2001. "Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(4), pages 661-685, December.
    2. Patrick Sharkey & Michael Friedson, 2019. "The Impact of the Homicide Decline on Life Expectancy of African American Males," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 645-663, April.
    3. Stinchcombe, Arthur L., 2005. "The Logic of Social Research," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226774916, August.
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