Social injury: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the attitudes towards suicide of lay persons in Ghana
Date
2011
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being
Abstract
One way of furthering our understanding of suicidal behaviour is to examine people’s attitudes towards it and how they
conceive the act. The aim of this study was to understand how lay persons conceive the impact of suicide on others and how
that influences their attitudes towards suicide; and discuss the implications for suicide prevention in Ghana. This is a
qualitative study, using a semi-structured interview guide to investigate the attitudes and views of 27 lay persons from urban
and rural settings in Ghana. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that
the perceived breach of interrelatedness between people due to suicidal behaviour influenced the informants’ view of suicide
as representing a social injury. Such view of suicide influenced the negative attitudes the informants expressed towards the
act. The negative attitudes towards suicide in Ghana are cast in consequential terms. Thus, suicide is an immoral act
because it socially affects others negatively. The sense of community within the African ethos and The Moral Causal
Ontology for Suffering are theoretical postulations that are used to offer some explanations of the findings in this study.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Social injury, attitudes, lay persons, suicide, Ghana
Citation
To cite this article: Joseph Osafo, Heidi Hjelmeland, CharitySylvia Akotia & BirtheLoa Knizek (2011) Social injury: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the attitudes towards suicide of lay persons in Ghana., International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 6:4, 8708, DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v6i4.8708