NCJ Number
235738
Date Published
August 2011
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper examines issues in defining "older prisoners" in Australia and explores the increase in older inmates throughout Australia, both at the national level and across the States and Territories, followed by the identification and discussion of challenges in managing this inmate population.
Abstract
Despite the variability in defining the "older prisoner," many writers and researchers have adopted a functional definition as inmates who are 50 years old and older. The use of 50 years and older is based on research findings that identified "...an apparent 10-year differential between the overall health of prisoners and that of the general population" (Grant, 1999). In 2010, inmates 50 years old and older composed 11.2 percent of the Australian prison population, compared with 8.3 percent in the year 2000, an increase of approximately 84 percent. This far exceeds the increase in the national prison population, which was only 36 percent over the same period. Analysis indicates that this increase in older inmates is not due only to an increase in the percentage of older people in the general population. It is also due to the fact that the types of offenses for which older inmates have been imprisoned tend to carry longer sentences, notably sex offenses, homicide, and drug-related offenses. The analysis notes the need to give attention to older female inmates and Indigenous inmates. Among the concerns specific to the management of older inmates are health concerns; increasing costs; prison environment and regimes; suitability of prison programs; vulnerability to victimization; release and resettlement issues; nursing home prisons, prison hospices, and special needs units; staffing, services, and programs; and parole and early release. 58 references