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The purpose of this paper is to develop a medico-judicial framework for rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients in Zimbabwe.

Grounded theory of the Charmaz (2006, 2014) persuasion was used. An exploratory qualitative design was utilised. The theoretical framework that was used as a point of departure was Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual canon. Participants were purposefully and theoretically sampled. These included the judiciary, patients, patients’ family, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, experts in forensic psychiatric practice. They were 32 in total.

The findings reflected a need to realign the dislocation and dissonance between and within the fields of the prison system, medical system, and the judiciary. The realignment was done by co-constructing a therapeutic jurisprudent medico-judicial framework for rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients in Zimbabwe with participants who were stakeholders in forensic psychiatric rehabilitation.

The study was focused on male forensic psychiatric patients rehabilitation and not on female forensic psychiatric patients because there were important variables in the two groups that were not homogenous. However, it is possible that including females in the study could have added perspective to the study. This also limits the generalisation of findings beyond the male forensic psychiatric participants. Services beyond the experience of participants translate to the notion that findings cannot be generalised beyond the parameters of the study. Future research and service evaluation and audit need to be considered. The study findings focused on the “psychiatric” aspect and did not emphasise the “forensic” aspect of the service delivery service. Future research may need to feature physical provisions and progression pathways with reference to “forensic” risk reduction as a parallel goal.

The study calls for the following: Transformation of the medico-judicial system, adjusting legislation and restructuring of the public service; changing of public attitudes to enable implementation of the medico-judicial framework; there is need for a step by step process in the implementation of the framework in which training needs of service staff, social workers, community leaders and key stakeholders will need to be addressed; the proposed changes presented by the model will require cultural, financial and infrastructural shifts.

There is need for policy makers to re-enfranchise or rebrand forensic psychiatric rehabilitation services in Zimbabwe. This could positively involve the marketing of forensic psychiatric rehabilitation to the stakeholders and to the public. This is projected to counter the stigma, disinterest and disillusionment that run through both professionals and public alike. This will foster a therapeutic jurisprudence that upholds the dignity and rights of forensic psychiatric patients.

This work is an original contribution to forensic psychiatry in Zimbabwe. Research in that area is prohibitive because of the complexity of processes that are followed. This research is therefore ground breaking.

The purpose of this paper is to explicate the lived experiences of nurses involved in rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients in special institutions in Zimbabwe.

The study used the grounded theory approach utilising a mixed sequential dominant status design (QUAL/Quant). Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual canon of field, habitus and capital was used as a theoretical point of departure by the research study. Confirmatory retrospective document review of 119 patients’ files was also done to substantiate the nurses’ experiences. Theoretical sampling of relatives was also done.

Findings and results revealed that nurses seemed to experience infrahumanisation, a subtler form of dehumanisation. The infrahumanisation was embodied in the unpleasant context in which nurses were expected to perform their mandate of championing rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients. The guards who represented the prison system seemed to possess all forms of capital in the prison system (where special institutions are housed): the prison cultural capital, social capital and economic capital. This capital seemed to represent symbolic power over the disillusioned and voiceless nurses. Guards attended to and discussed patients and relatives issues instead of nurses. This form of misrecognition of the nurses culminated in dominance and reproduction of the interests of the prison system which underlined the established order of realities in the rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients in special institutions at the time of the study. The nurses’ lived experience was confirmed by theoretically sampled by relatives of forensic psychiatric patients who also participated in the research study. Nurses’ powerlessness was also reflected in the patients’ files in which in which care was largely not documented.

The study focused on the nurses experiences related to rehabilitation of male forensic psychiatric patients and not on female forensic psychiatric patients because there were important variables in the two groups that were not homogenous. For the little documentation that was done, there was also a tendency nurses to document negative rather than positive events and trends. The documents/files of patients had therefore a negative bias which was a major limitation to this study.

There is a need for major revision of the revision of the role of the nurse in the forensic psychiatric setting. Collaboration as academia, practice, professional organisations and regulatory bodies would foster a nurse led therapeutic jurisprudence in the future of rehabilitation of forensic psychiatric patients in Zimbabwe.

There is a need for major revision of the revision of the role of the nurse in the forensic psychiatric setting.

This is the first description of the position of nurses’ seconded to special institutions in Zimbabwe and will go a long way in realigning conflictual policy documents guiding care of forensic psychiatric patients in special institutions.