Osafo, J, Akotia, CS, Quarshie, ENB orcid.org/0000-0002-8720-2355 et al. (2 more authors) (2017) Police views of suicidal persons and the law criminalizing attempted suicide in Ghana: A qualitative study with policy implications. SAGE Open, 7 (3). ISSN 2158-2440
Abstract
The penal code of Ghana condemns suicide attempt. The present study sought to explore the views of the police on persons who attempt suicide and the law criminalizing the act. Qualitative in-depth interviews were used to explore the views of 18 officers of the Ghana Police Service. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis technique. Findings showed that the police officers profiled suicide attempters as needy, enigmatic, ignorant, and blameworthy. Majority (n = 14) of them disagreed with the law and suggested a repeal, whereas only four of them agreed with the law. Regardless of their positions on criminalization, they showed an inclination to help, rather than arrest, when confronted with such persons in line of their duty. Educating the police on suicidal behavior may help to deepen their understanding and help improve the way they handle suicidal persons. This may also strengthen police suicide prevention gatekeeping obligations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017, The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | attempted suicide, criminalization, Ghana, Ghana Police Service |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 05 Oct 2017 10:41 |
Last Modified: | 05 Oct 2017 10:49 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/2158244017731803 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:122030 |