Recently
I attended the monthly general meeting of the New York NGO Committee
on Ageing. The topic was “Aging in Prison – a Human Rights
Issue.” Two academics who have specialized on treatment of US
prisoners presented some of their research. They were:
Tina
Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, who is now Associate Professor at
Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services (FUGGS); she’s
also a Social Fellow at the New York Academy of Medicine, a Research
Scholar at the Ravazzin Center on Aging, and Coordinator for the
FUGGS Human Rights and Social Justice sequence. The second speaker,
Deborah Viola, PhD., is Associate Professor and Associate
Director, Doctoral Program, Department of Health Policy &
Management at New York Medical College, and Research Scholar at the
Center for Long Term Care Research & Policy.
General
Facts
The
US population makes up about 5 percent of the world’s population.
About 10 million people are imprisoned world-wide. Surprisingly, 25
percent of those are “doing time” are held in US prisons. Among
them, 16 percent of the 10 million are 60 years and older. The US
exceeds all nations in the number of old people incarcerated in its
prisons. At present, the older population is the most rapidly growing
group in US prisons. In fact, the number of older prisoners is
growing faster than the number of older persons in the US population.
In the US, 756 human beings out of every 100.000 people are
incarcerated.
Why
are there so many people in US prisons?
One
would think since the US has the largest prison population in the
world that the nation must be home to very dangerous criminals who
everyone would agree are “bad” people. But wait a minute, are
they?
About
three decades ago the US introduced a “tough on crime” policy.
State and federal legislators adopted laws that increased the
likelihood and length of prison sentences, by including mandatory
minimum sentences and three strikes laws. It seems a bit strange that
while the crime rate had declined since the 1980's; nevertheless the
US prison population grew six-fold.
It
is very interesting that the US has privately owned prisons. The two
largest private prison companies combined to bring in close to
$3,000, 000, 000 in revenue in 2010. Earlier in the 1980's, there
were no privately owned prisons in the US. Since then the number of
incarcerated people has exploded. It does not take a genius to see
what is going on here.
Last
year the largest private prison in the US, Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA), received $ 74 million of taxpayers’ money to run
immigration detention centers. There are numerous reports on human
rights’ abuses in these private prisons. For example, when auditors
visited one private prison in Texas, they “got so much fecal matter
on their shoes they had to wipe their feet off on the grass outside.”
The prisoners were literally living in their own excrement. To make a
phone call to a lawyer or loved ones, the CCA charges its inmates $ 5
per minute, yet the prison only pays inmates who work at the facility
$1 per day. To me, it looks like the more people the “justice
system” can put behind bars, the more money the private prisons
will make.
A
lot of people go to US prisons because of drug crimes. Examining who
actually goes to prison because of a drug crime speaks very loud.
About 14 million whites and 2.6 million Afro-Americans report using
an illicit drug. While five times as many whites are using drugs as
African Americans, yet African Americas are sent to prison for drug
offenses at 10 times the rate of whites. African Americans serve
virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as
whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). Surely this is not
“equal treatment under the law.” One out of every 12
Afro-American men of working age is in prison. These statistics tell
us that if you commit a drug crime and are not white, you will go to
prison. If you are white, it is considered a public health problem.
What
are the problems facing an older population behind bars?
Prisons
in general are designed for the young and able-bodied. For example,
when people grow older they have different medical and health needs
than the young. Older persons are more likely to develop disabilities
that require the use of assistive devices such as glasses, hearing
aids, wheelchairs, walkers and canes. As in the community, the
elderly in prison suffer from falls, which contribute to hip
fractures and high health costs. Even if these conditions are
provided for, many elder inmates are confined in facilities that
cannot meet the structural or programmatic needs of mobility-impaired
persons. Because of their higher rates of illness and impairments,
older prisoners incur medical costs that are three to nine times
higher than those of younger prisoners. In general a younger prisoner
costs about $22.000 per year while an older person can cost as much
as $65,000 per year.
It
is also documented that the older prisoners “age” about 15 years
faster than people who are not incarcerated.
Sooner
or later, one of two things will happen to an aging prisoner. Either
he/she will die in prison, or will be released. Neither of these
alternatives has gained that much attention. Reentry into society is
very difficult for any former prisoner. Older persons face additional
challenges. Older women and men find it extremely hard to find work,
housing and transportation, as well as necessary medical and mental
healthcare. Some have the assistance from former friends and family,
but many have lost contact with their families because of the length
of time incarcerated or the nature of their crimes.
As
the number of older prisoners increases, so too does the number of
men and women dying of natural causes behind bars.
Sanna
Klemetti
Please learn more by reading Human
Rights Watch's report “Old Behind Bars”
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/01/27/old-behind-bars-0
To look up some of the statistics
please visit:
