"We Now Have a Patient and Not a Criminal": An Exploratory Study of Judges and Lawyers' Views on Suicide Attempters and the Law in Ghana

To Keep the Law or to Repeal It: Views of Parliamentarians On the Call to Decriminalise Attempted Suicide in Ghana

We explored the views of members of parliament (MPs) in Ghana on the call to decriminalise attempted suicide. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to Parliamentary Hansards (2017-2020) on calls to decriminalise attempted suicide in Ghana. 11 MPs shared their stance for or against the call. We developed three major themes that entailed, often, opposing views: (1) deterrent effect of the law (against: the law punishes and deters to protect life; for: the law is insensitive and has ironic effects), (2) enforcement of the law (against: leave things as they are, the law is not enforced, anyway; for: crime is not self-inflicted) and (3) prioritisation of suicide prevention (against: focus on more pressing issues, but resource support systems; for: the law and legitimate support systems cannot co-exist). The findings indicate two needs: to extend suicide literacy to Ghanaian MPs, and to initiate a public/private member's bill on attempted suicide decriminalisation.

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Restorative Justice in the United States: The Process of Institutionalization and the Roles of Judges

The legal systems and the judiciary in many countries have been changed and reformed, with the aim of dispensing justice quicker and more effectively. Some reforms have tried a less adversarial approach to resolving legal disputes, for example, Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) and Restorative Justice (RJ). The objective of this article is to describe how institutionalized these movements are in the United States and the roles played by judges in this process. The data collection involved document analysis, observation of court-hearings, and interviews with 13 judges from several judicial areas involved in TJ and/or RJ judicial proceedings in the United States. Data analysis was undertaken using content analysis and the software NVivo. The results provide evidence that (a) these movements are in a process of divergent change implementation; (b) judges who engage with these approaches act as institutional entrepreneurs; and (c) the judges interviewed can be classified into four roles that are complementary in the promotion of TJ/RJ: promoter, author, convener, and maintainer.

The experiences of attempt survivor families and how they cope after a suicide attempt in Ghana: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Ghana's socio-cultural landscape proscribes suicidal behaviour, and this has serious ramifications for attempt survivors and their families. The objective of this qualitative study was to understand the experiences of the families of attempt survivors and how they cope with the aftermath of the attempt.

METHODS

Ten families with attempted suicides agreed to participate in the study, hence they were interviewed. The information gathered was manually analyzed according to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) resulting in three major thematic areas.

RESULTS

Three major themes emerged two of which addressed negative experiences and reactions towards the attempts: Experiencing shame and stigma, and Reactive affect. The third theme addressed the coping resources of these informants under the theme: Surviving the stress of attempt. The specific coping resources included personalized spiritual coping, social support, and avoidance.

CONCLUSIONS

Family systems theory is used to explain some of the findings of this study, and the implication for clinical practice and designing postvention programs for families after a suicide attempt are addressed.