The Gray Pains of Imprisonment: Examining the Perceptions of Confinement among a Sample of Sexagenarians and Septuagenarians

Abstract

While the overall United States prison population has decreased over the last 10 years, the number of sentenced individuals above the age of 50 nearly doubled during the same period. The focus of this study, the pains of imprisonment experienced by the aging, is an under-researched area in the prison literature. Results from a sample of 134 male participants of True Grit, a structured living program for older prisoners, indicate strong agreement among sexagenarians, among septuagenarians, and between them. Previous studies of the pains of imprisonment found similar evaluations of the most and least difficult aspects of incarceration. While different instruments were used, collectively these studies suggest some commonality in the greatest hardships and least problematic aspects of incarceration. Policy implications derived from the present research are considered.

Keywords

pains of imprisonment older prisoners True Grit perceptions of confinement social networks

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abramsky

(2004). Lifers. Legal Affairs, March/April. http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/March-April-2004/feature_abramsky_marpar04.msp

Aday

R. H.

(1994a). Aging in prison: A case study of new elderly offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 38(1), 79–91.

Aday

R. H.

(1994b). Golden years behind bars: Special programs and facilities for elderly inmates. Federal Probation, 58(2), 47–54.

Aday

R. H.

(2003). Aging prisoners: Crisis in American corrections. Praeger.

Aday

R. H.

(2005-2006). Aging prisoners’ concerns toward dying in prison. Omega, 52(3), 199–216.

Aday

R. H.

Krabill

J. J.

(2011). Women aging in prison: A neglected population in correctional system. Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Aday

R. H.

Krabill

J. J.

(2014). Social programming and activities. In Kerbs

J. J.

Jolley

J. M.

(Eds.), Senior citizens behind bars (pp. 93–112). Lynne Rienner Publishers.

American Civil Liberties Union. (2012). At America’s expense: The mass incarceration of the elderly. American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/report/americas-expense-mass-incarceration-elderly

Anderson

Hilliard

(2005). Managing offenders with special health needs: Highest and best use strategies. Corrections Today, 67(1), 58–61.

10.

Anno

J. A.

Graham

Lawrence

J. E.

Shansky

(2004). Correctional health care: Addressing the needs of elderly, chronically ill, and terminally ill inmates. National Institute of Corrections. https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/018735.pdf

11.

Baidawi

Trotter

(2016). Psychological distress among older prisoners: Associations with health, health care utilization, and the prison environment. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 22(4), 354–366.

12.

Bishop

A. J.

Merten

M. J.

(2011). Risk of comorbid health impairment among older male inmates. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 17(1), 34–45.

13.

Cain

Fontenot

(2001). Managing Angola’s long-term inmates. Corrections Today, 63(4), 119–123.

14.

Carlton

Segrave

(2011). Women’s survival post-imprisonment: Connecting imprisonment with pains past and present. Punishment & Society, 13(5), 551–570.

15.

Carson

E. A.

(2020). Prisoners in 2019. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p19.pdf

16.

Carson

E. A.

Sabol

W. J.

(2016). Aging of the state prison population, 1993-2013. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/aspp9313.pdf

17.

Chiu

(2010). It’s about time: Aging prisoners, increasing costs, and geriatric releases. Vera Institute of Justice. https://www.vera.org/publications/its-about-time-aging-prisoners-increasing-costs-and-geriatric-release

18.

Chui

W. H.

(2010). ‘Pains of imprisonment’: Narratives of the women partners and children of the incarcerated. Child & Family Social Work, 15(2), 196–205.

19.

Colsher

P. L.

Wallace

R. B.

Loeffelholz

P. L.

Sales

(1992). Health status of older male prisoners: A comprehensive survey. American Journal of Public Health, 82(6), 881–884.

20.

Cox

(2011). Doing the programme or doing me? The pains of youth imprisonment. Punishment & Society, 13(5), 592–610.

21.

Crawford

(2012, March 19). Canada urged to segregate elderly prisoners. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-urged-to-segregate-elderly-prisoners-1.1296158

22.

Crawley

Sparks

(2006). Is there life after imprisonment?: How elderly men talk about imprisonment and release. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 6(1), 63–82.

23.

Crewe

(2011). Depth, weight, tightness: Revisiting the pains of imprisonment. Punishment & Society, 13(5), 509–529.

24.

Crewe

Hulley

Wright

(2017). The gendered pains of life imprisonment. The British Journal of Criminology, 57(6), 1359–1378.

25.

Deaton

Aday

R. H.

Wahidin

(2009). The effect of health and penal harm on aging female prisoners’ views of dying in prison. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 60(1), 51–70.

26.

Delaney

Subramanian

Shames

Turner

(2018). Reimaging prison. Vera Institute of Justice. https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/Reimagining-Prison_FINAL3_digital.pdf

27.

Durnescu

(2011). Pains of probation: Effective practice and human rights. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(4), 530–545.

28.

Dye

M. H.

Aday

R. H.

(2019). Women lifers: Lives before, behind, and beyond bars. Rowman and Littlefield.

29.

Dye

M. H.

Aday

R. H.

Farney

Raley

(2014). “The rock I cling to”: Religious engagement in the lives of life-sentenced women. The Prison Journal, 94(3), 388–408.

30.

Edgemon

T. G.

Clay-Warner

(2019). Inmate mental health and the pains of imprisonment. Society and Mental Health, 9(1), 33–50.

31.

Flanagan

T. J.

(1980). The pains of long-term imprisonment: A comparison of British and American perspectives. The British Journal of Criminology, 20(2), 148–156.

32.

Hancock

Jewkes

(2011). Architectures of incarceration: The spatial pains of imprisonment. Punishment & Society, 13(5), 611–629.

33.

Harrison

M. T.

(2006). True Grit: An innovative program for elderly inmates. Corrections Today, 68, 46–49.

34.

Harrison

M. T.

(2015). An enriched structured living environment for older adult male prisoners may help to maintain cognitive abilities. (3701284) [Doctoral dissertation, Fielding Graduate University]. ProQuest Dissertation Publishing.

35.

Harrison

M. T.

Benedetti

(2009). Comprehensive geriatric programs in a time of shrinking resources: “True Grit” revisited. Corrections Today, 71(5), 44–47.

36.

Hayes

A. J.

Burns

Turnbull

Shaw

J. J.

(2013). Social and custodial needs of older adults in prison. Age and Ageing, 42, 589–593.

37.

Hulley

Crewe

Wright

(2016). Re-examining the problems of long-term imprisonment. The British Journal of Criminology, 56(4), 769–792.

38.

Kerbs

J. J.

Jolley

J. M.

(2007). Inmate-on-inmate victimization among older male prisoners. Crime & Delinquency, 53(2), 187–218.

39.

Kerbs

J. J.

Jolley

J. M.

(2009). A commentary on age segregation for older prisoners: Philosophical and pragmatic considerations for correctional systems. Criminal Justice Review, 34(1), 119–139.

40.

Kopera-Frye

Harrison

M. T.

Iribarne

Dampsey

Adams

Grabreck

McMullen

Peak

McCown

W.G.

Harrison

W.O.

(2013). Veterans aging in place behind bars: A structured living program that works. Psychological Services, 10(1), 79–86.

41.

Kotova

(2019). ‘Time. . .lost time’: Exploring how partners of long-term prisoners experience the temporal pains of imprisonment. Time & Society, 28(2), 478–498.

42.

Krajick

(1979). Growing old in prison. Corrections Magazine, 5(1), 32–46.

43.

Leigey

M. E.

(2015). The forgotten men. Rutgers University Press.

44.

Leigey

M. E.

(2019). Female institutional misconduct: A test of deprivation, importation, and gendered importation theories. The Prison Journal, 99(3), 343–362.

45.

Leigey

M. E.

Ryder

M. A.

(2015). The pains of permanent imprisonment: Examining perceptions of confinement among older life without parole inmates. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 59(7), 726–742.

46.

Litwok

Cutler

Luallen

(2020). Causes of aging in the federal prison population and a comparison to states. Criminal Justice Review, 45(1), 129–142.

47.

Loeb

S. J.

Steffensmeier

(2006). Older male prisoners: Health status, self-efficacy beliefs, and health-promoting behaviors. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 12(4), 269–278.

48.

Marquart

J. W.

Merianos

D. E.

Doucet

(2000). The health-related concerns of older prisoners: Implications for policy. Aging and Society, 20(1), 79–96.

49.

Maschi

Morgen

(2020). Aging behind prison walls: Studies in trauma and resilience. Columbia University Press.

50.

Maschi

Viola

Harrison

M. T.

Harrison

Koskinen

Bellusa

(2014). Bridging community and prison for older adults: Invoking human rights and elder and intergenerational family justice. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 10(1), 55–73.

51.

Mauer

Nellis

(2018). The meaning of life: The case for abolishing life sentences. The New Press.

52.

McCarthy

(1983). The health status of elderly inmates. Corrections Today, 45(1), 64–65, 74.

53.

McKillop

Boucher

(2018, February 20). Aging prison populations drive up costs. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs

54.

McShane

M. D.

Williams

F.P.

III . (1990). Old and ornery: The disciplinary experiences of elderly prisons. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 34(3), 197–212.

55.

Mertens

Vander Laenen

(2020). Pains of imprisonment beyond prison walls: Qualitative research with females labelled as not criminally responsible. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 64(13–14), 1343–1363.

56.

Morton

J. B.

(1992). An administrative overview of the older inmate. National Institute of Corrections. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/144056NCJRS.pdf

57.

Morton

J. B.

Anderson

J. C.

(1982). Elderly offenders: The forgotten minority. Corrections Today, 44(6), 14–16, 20.

58.

Murolo

A. S.

(2020). Geriatric inmates: Policy and practice. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 26(1), 4–16.

59.

Newman

(2020, January 30). U.S. life expectancy rises for first time in four years. US News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-01-30/us-life-expectancy-increases-for-first-time-in-4-years

60.

Office of the Inspector General. (2016). The impact of an aging inmate population on the Federal Bureau of Prisons. https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2015/e1505.pdf

61.

Rabuy

Kopf

(2015, October 20). Separation by bars and miles: Visitation in state prisons. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/prisonvisits.html

62.

Reimer

(2008). The graying of the U.S. prisoner population. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 14(3), 202–208.

63.

Richards

(1978). The experience of long-term imprisonment: An exploratory investigation. The British Journal of Criminology, 18, 128–145.

64.

Rikard

R. V.

Rosenberg

(2007). Aging inmates: A convergence of trends in the American criminal justice system. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 13(3), 150–162.

65.

Rocheleau

A. M.

(2013). An empirical exploration of the “pains of imprisonment” and the level of prison misconduct and violence. Criminal Justice Review, 38(3), 354–374.

66.

Sanders

Stensland

(2018). Preparing to die behind bars: The journey of male inmates with terminal health conditions. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 24(3), 232–242.

67.

Statista Research Department. (2021). Population of the United States by sex and age 2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age

68.

Strupp

Willmott

(2005). Dignity denied: The price of imprisoning older women in California. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/pubs/dignity.pdf

69.

Sykes

G. M.

(1958). The society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison. Princeton University Press.

70.

The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2013). Managing prison health care spending. https://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/pcs_assets/2014/PCTCorrectionsHealthcareBrief050814pdf.pdf

71.

Trotter

Baidawi

(2015). Older prisoners: Challenges for inmates and prison management. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 48(2), 200–218.

72.

Ugelvik

(2014). Paternal pains of imprisonment: Incarcerated fathers, ethnic minority masculinity and resistance narratives. Punishment & Society, 16(2), 152–168.

73.

Vito

G. F.

Wilson

D. G.

(1985). Forgotten people: Elderly inmates. Federal Probation, 49(1), 18–24.

74.

Wagner

Jones

(2019). State of phone justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/phones/state_of_phone_justice.html#appendixtable1

75.

Walker

Worrall

(2000). Life as a woman: The gendered pains of indeterminate imprisonment. Prison Service Journal, 132, 27–37.

76.

Warr

(2016). The deprivation of certitude, legitimacy and hope. Foreign national prisoners and the pains of imprisonment. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 16(3), 301–318.

77.

Washington State Department of Corrections. (2021). Prison visits. https://www.doc.wa.gov/corrections/incarceration/visiting/prison-visits.htm

78.

West

H. C.

Sabol

W. J.

Greenman

S. J.

(2010). Prisoners in 2009. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p09.pdf

79.

Williams

B. A.

Stern

M. F.

Mellow

Safer

Greifinger

(2012). Aging in correctional custody: Setting a policy agenda for older prisoner health care. American Journal of Public Health, 102(8), 1475–1481.

80.

Wilson

D. G.

Vito

G. F.

(1986). Imprisoned elders: The experience of one institution. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 1(4), 399–421.

81.

Windzio

(2006). Is there a deterrent effect of pains of imprisonment? The impact of ‘social costs’ of first incarceration on the hazard rate of recidivism. Punishment & Society, 8(3), 341–364.

82.

Zamble

Porporino

F. J.

(1988). Coping, behavior, and adaption in prison inmates. Springer.