IMPRISONMENT IN OLD AGE: SHOULD WE INCARCERATE THE ELDERY?

Abstract

The prison system is built for punishment of people who are society’s outlaws and so living conditions can be veryharsh with little or no rehabilitation for inmates especially people growing old in prison. As prisoners age, prisonconditions may feel like double punishment as physical strength diminishes and health problems set in. Economistsestimate that it cost two to three times more to incarcerate an older inmate than a younger one. Penal Institutionswill continue to spend more on health care as the population of elderly inmates grows, for instance, in the UKalone, inmates aged above 60 increased by over 82% in a space of 10 years.1 A similar scenario is playing out inthe United States, where the number of prisoners aged 55 and older as at 2015 in the State of Texas was a shocking17,456.2 These large numbers of people will require more social care than rehabilitation from the correctionalservice in the coming decades if immediate action is not taken. Prisons may likely look like a nursing home if thisgroup of inmates are not factored into policy initiatives during sentencing.