Life sentences have increasingly translated into prison stays until the end of natural life. Incarcerated women serving life sentences comprise a small, but growing, sub-population of the prison population. Women with life sentences enter prison with high rates of physical and mental health concerns, and these concerns are often chronic and recurring needs for women’s duration in prison. Pressing concerns include persistent depression and suicide risk factors. However, there is a lack of research focused on improving this population’s mental health, and specifically, no existing intervention for this population of women. Thus, this dissertation seeks to enhance and broaden the knowledge base about factors that influence the mental health of women with life sentence in order to provide clarity and guide advocacy for prison-based mental health services. Also, this dissertation includes a sub-study that examines the mental health outcomes for a new intervention with this population of women. Two key theories serve as the foundation for this dissertation: importation theory and deprivation theory. Three sub-studies comprise three core chapters of this dissertation. Across these studies, the results highlight implications for social work practice, policy, and research.
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