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32 Int'l Crim. Just. Rev. 5 (2022)

handle is hein.journals/intcrm32 and id is 1 raw text is: Original Article International Criminal Justice Review 2022, Vol. 32(1) 5-23 M e nt l H alt E x p rie c esİ 2020 Georgia State University Mental Health Experiences ' Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions Am ong Inm ates Serving Life DOI: 10.1177/1057567720963718 journals.sagepub.com/home/ic Sentences in Ghana Prisons OSAGE Frank Darkwa Baffour' , Abraham P. Francis, Mark David Chong', and Nonie Harris' Abstract In Ghana, a convicted person is not entitled to parole. The only hope for their return into the community is either completing the sentence or government amnesty. However, recidivists on life sentences are completely denied the chance of returning into the community. This coupled with the demand of adjusting to the country's prison conditions affects the mental well-being of life- sentenced inmates. This study explored the mental health experiences of life-sentenced inmates. An interpretive phenomenological approach guided the analysis of qualitative data collected from 21 life-sentenced inmates who were serving terms in three selected prisons. We employed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (lCD-I 1) mental disorder symptomologies to situate the participants' narration of their experiences. The participants reported feeling sad, hopelessness, and having sleepless days and nights due to thinking about their perceived spoiled plight. They also experienced stress and were fearful of uncertainties due to perceived prison officer apathy and harsh prison conditions. Additionally, the participants resorted to drug use as a means to cope with their mental health experiences. The participants' descriptions of their experiences were consistent with some symptomologies of mental disorders as provided in the DSM-5 and ICD-I I and call for the creation of mental health treatment services in the country's prisons to improve the mental health of inmates. Keywords forensic mental health, Ghana prisons, life-sentenced inmates, ICD-I 1, DSM-5 Mental health disorders are a global public health problem with rates in prison inmates increasing at an exponential rate (Grassi et al., 2018). This is particularly pressing issue because studies conducted in jurisdictions outside of Ghana have shown that life-sentenced inmates tend to suffer from severe mental disorders (Leigey, 2010). Life-sentenced inmates (as compared to their nonlife- Collage of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Douglas, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Corresponding Author: Frank Darkwa Baffour, Room 134, Building 4, I James Cook Drive, Collage of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Douglas, Townsville, Queensland 4814, Australia. Email: frank.baffour@my.jcu.edu.au