Social Workers' Suicide Interventions: Listening to the Needs of Suicidal People

Abstract

The massive financial investments in suicide prevention strategies encouraging people to consult healthcare professionals and discuss their suicidal ideations creates the assumption that current practices offer people opportunities to express suicidal thoughts. Studies show that many people with suicidal thoughts express the need to be heard, but they are often denied a safe space to express their feelings and thoughts. Social workers encounter and work with people with suicidal thoughts in a variety of settings, including in general and psychiatric hospitals, at universities, on school boards, in correctional institutions, through children’s aid services, family agency services, and in long-term care homes. My research aims to determine which intervention strategies social workers in Canada employ with suicidal people and what impacts these strategies have on suicidal people. My research identifies various social work interventions when dealing with people who express suicidal thoughts, analyzes the impacts of these interventions on suicidal people from a critical perspective, and provides recommendations for alternative interventions and practices with suicidal people. The methodology of my research is based on a critical review of literature on intervention strategies used with suicidal people by social workers in Canada and their impacts on suicidal people. This review indicates that interventions providing suicidal people with a safe space to express their suicidal thoughts and be listened to should be made a priority, while treating suicidal people coercively should be avoided. To conclude, recommendations are provided for various public institutions, public policies, and social awareness to improve intervention strategies with suicidal people.

Keywords: suicide, suicidal people, social work, social workers, intervention, suicide prevention, treatment, coercive treatment