AN INVESTIGATION OF ALTERNATIVE CORRECTIONS POLICIES FOR ELDERLY FELONS: A PRELIMINARY RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Today, there are almost 50,000 persons incarcerated in the nation's prisons (state and federal) who are aged 55 or older. These older prisoners account for approximately 4.2 percent of the incarcerated population. There are varying definitions for terms such as "elderly" and "older". With respect to people who are incarcerated, however, the Social Security definitions of 62 and 65 years old, various "senior" definitions that range from 55 through 60 years old, and other definitions may not be appropriate.
The problems associated with the incarceration of older persons may, at a general level, be placed in two classifications. One of the classifications includes health and social problems directly affecting the older incarcerated persons, while the second classification includes financial problems associated with the funding of health care and protection costs for older inmates, as well as the administrative problems associated with the care and protection of older inmates. Each set of problems is important.
Because of the problems related to the incarceration of older persons, many corrections officials think that the age of 50 is an appropriate point for the designation of an inmate as elderly. While many people in the general population do not begin to develop serious health problems in their fifties, the stresses associated with incarceration, together with the pre-incarceration lifestyles of persons in prison cause such people to be at a higher risk for the development of serious health problems at an earlier age than applies to many people in the general population. Additionally, corrections officials state that inmates of the age of 50 are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by younger prisoners.
The aging of the American population, together with the frequency of criminal behavior in the United St
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