MPH / Department of Public Health / Over the past years, suicide and suicidal ideation are being increasingly recognised as important issues for public health policy, especially, among police officers. Suicidal ideation is one of the tragic issues among police officers, causing serious emotional, spiritual, medical, social and psychological distress for the individual, their families and friends, however, not much is known about it in the Vhembe District. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors contributing to suicidal ideation among police officers in Vhembe District. The study was conducted in the Thohoyandou cluster, which is situated in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A study had a qualitative phenomenological research design. The data saturation were reached at the number of 12 police officers, the target population were selected by means of convenience sampling and data was collected through a semi-structured interview. The data collected was analysed using the thematic analytical approach and conclusion were made based on the findings of the study. The study findings show the following as the factors contributing to suicidal ideation among the police officers - domestic violence, financial problems, divorce, extramarital affairs, lack of social support, health problems, contradicting the law and organisational factors that include organisational structure and working with guns. The study recommended that the South African Police Services should continue to provide support and counselling to police officers after they have attended to traumatic cases and that police officers need to be more open about their problems and avoid attempting to deal with them by themselves. / NRF

PhD (Gender Studies) / Institute for Gender and Youth Studies / Suicidal behavior has become a serious public health concern worldwide. Globally, the rate of suicide increased by 60% in the past years. In South Africa, about 9.5 % of nonnatural deaths in young people is due to suicidal behavior, and there are 667 deaths due to suicide every month (Birmingham & Solihull, 2012). Suicide has left a trail of psychological problems which impact negatively on the health and well-being of people. Worldwide, there is a gender difference in suicidal behaviour. Women have higher rates of suicide attempt while men are more likely to commit suicide (Cheong, Choi, Cho, Yoon, Kim & Hwang, 2012). Most studies focus on suicide while suicide attempt has been neglected in scholarship. As a result, there is very little attention to how gender influences suicidal behavior in society. This exploratory study sought to explore the phenomenon of suicide attempt among young female suicide survivors at Tshilidzini Regional Hospital in Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province in South Africa. The study approach was qualitative in nature and the study population comprised of all young female suicide survivors and all family members who often accompanied patients to the hospital. Nonprobability convenience sampling technique was used to select the study participants. The study sample consisted of 20 participants (10 young female suicide survivors and 10 family members). Ethical considerations were taken into account to protect the participants. In-depth face-to-face unstructured interviews and focus group discussion were used as a method of data collection. Content analysis was used for analysing data in this study. The study found that suicidal behaviour by young females was mainly due to intimate relationship problems. The study recommended the development and use an effective suicide screening tool and a multi-pronged strategy to curb incidences of suicidal behaviour by young females. / NRF