Abstract
The increase in the trends of the repealing of anti-suicide laws especially, in the High Income Countries, is largely due to the growth of evidence that suggests that difficult psychosocial factors and existential adversities are responsible for suicidal behaviour, which thereby warrant advocacy to help rather than punish persons who attempt suicide. Despite this trend, suicide attempt is still criminalised in Ghana. Thus, persons in the country who attempt suicide are apprehended and prosecuted, and upon conviction, receive criminal penalties ranging from hefty fines to prison terms (between 1 and 3 years). This chapter explores the sociohistorical, cultural and political antecedents to anti-suicide laws; highlights the dangers in the predominant binary discourse on decriminalisation efforts; and situates suicide and suicide attempt within the notion of “social suffering” in an attempt to foster a kinship between mental health and the legal system for an effective population-based suicide prevention in Ghana.
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Notes
- 1.
“Felo-de-se” is an Anglo-Latin term for “one guilty of self-murder”.
- 2.
Exodus 20:13—“You shall not murder.” (New International Version Bible).
- 3.
Parens patriae: This principle provides that the state has the legal duty to protect citizens who are unable to help or protect themselves.
- 4.
A fundamental principle of criminal law consisting of a person’s awareness of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal (i.e. the mental element).
- 5.
The principle of the act itself (the physical element).
- 6.
The Criminal Code of Ghana (Act 29 of Ghana, Section 57; Subsection II, 1960) stipulates that, “whoever attempts to commit suicide shall be guilty of a misdemeanour”. Thus, persons in the country who attempt suicide must be apprehended and prosecuted, and upon conviction, receive criminal penalties ranging from hefty fines to prison terms between 1 and 3 years.
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Andoh-Arthur, J., Quarshie, E.NB. (2021). Suicide Attempt and “Social Suffering”: Disrupting Dangerous Binary Discourse and Fostering Kinship between the Mental Health and Legal Systems in Ghana. In: Chan, H.C.(., Adjorlolo, S. (eds) Crime, Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71024-8_8
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