Media reportage of suicide among police officers in Ghana: A mixed method analysis

Rates of suicide have been recorded among the police in some parts of the world. Despite the attention that this topic has received, it appears that not much is being researched on it in Africa. Besides, research on suicide in Ghana has been skewed towards the public, to the neglect of the police. The sparse literature on suicide among the police both in Africa and in Ghana inspired this study. Our objectives were to examine the state of suicide among the police in Ghana as reported in the media, the differences between private and public news outlets with respect to their reportage of police suicide, and reasons that account for suicide among the police in Ghana. Using a mixed method approach and with purposive sampling technique, contents of news items from seven popular news portals on suicide among police officers in Ghana between the years 2015 and 2021 were reviewed. Sixty-nine (69) news items were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. It was observed that there were more reports of suicide on male officers compared with their female counterparts, with the rifle, pistol, and hanging being the modes for carrying out the act of suicide. Almost an equal number of superior and subordinate officers were reported to have committed suicide. To ensure that they completed their act, officers resorted to the use of lethal means, such as shooting themselves through the eye, head, throat, chin, and jaw. The reasons for committing suicide clustered around the themes of psychosocial precipitants, too high expectations, expected to man up, failed marriage, education of children, institutional lapses, failed paternity test, proposal, lack of public support, fed up with this life, can’t take the disgrace, and access to deadly weapon. Generally, media outlets failed to comply with the acceptable guidelines for reporting suicide. The use of a mixed method afforded us the opportunity to glean some reasons that account for suicide among the police in Ghana, showing how the psychological state of the officer, the society, and faulty institutional structures within the service could lead to officer suicide. Also, there is a need for media outlets to be educated on the need to adhere to the standard guidelines for reporting suicide.