Community leaders' attitudes towards and perceptions of suicide and suicide prevention 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.

Teen Perspectives on Suicides and Deaths in an Affluent Community: Perfectionism, Protection, and Exclusion

Clusters of youth suicide and death are tragic for communities and present long-term consequences for the surviving youths. Despite an awareness of community-based patterns in youth suicide, our understanding of the social and community factors behind these events remains poor. While links between poverty and suicide have been well documented, wealthy communities are rarely targeted in suicide research. In response to this gap, we conducted ethnographic research in a wealthy U.S. town that, over a recent 10-year period, witnessed at least four youth suicides and seven more youth accidental deaths. Our interviews (n = 30) explored community values and stressors, interpersonal relationships, and high school experiences on participant perceptions of community deaths. Youth participants characterize their affluent community as having (1) perfectionist standards; (2) permissive and sometimes absent parents; (3) socially competitive and superficial relationships; and (4) a "bubble" that is protective but also exclusionary. Our qualitative findings reveal network influence in teen suicides and accidental deaths in a wealthy community. Greater attention paid to the negative effects of subcultural values and stressors in affluent communities is warranted. Further, our work promotes the value of ethnographic, community-based methodologies for suicidology and treatment.

Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in Ghana: A Media Content Analysis of Survivors, Offenders, and Offence Characteristics

While there are no official data and published studies on clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) from Ghana, local media reports continue to show worrying trends of the phenomenon. We drew on 73 media reports from January 2000 to March 2019, to describe the offence characteristics and profiles of the perpetrators and survivors of CPSA in Ghana. The findings showed females aged 10-19 as predominant survivors. The perpetrators were all males found guilty of lone rape, incest, defilement, indecent assault, sodomy, attempted rape, or gang rape. A preventive measure could involve streamlining the recruitment, training, and leadership structures of the church.