U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Hidden Injuries? Researching the Experiences of Older Men in English Prisons

NCJ Number
211091
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 44 Issue: 4 Dated: September 2005 Pages: 345-356
Author(s)
Elaine Crawley; Richard Sparks
Date Published
September 2005
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article explored the prison experiences of men aged 65 years and older in English prisons.
Abstract
While the numbers of older men in English prisons has increased sharply over the past few years, this subpopulation has not yet been the object of research scrutiny or policy initiatives. This paper examines the reasons for the apparent inattention to older male prisoners and outlines the consequences of this inattention at the prison-level. In-depth interviews were conducted with 80 prisoners between the ages of 65 and 84 years and with 11 prison officers in 4 prisons throughout England. Observations were also conducted of the daily prison lives of elderly inmates. The authors focus the analysis on uncovering the unnoticed injuries to elderly inmates that occur in the course of everyday institutional practice, including physical and emotional injuries. Overall, the results of their analysis suggests that prison institutions demonstrate thoughtlessness toward elderly inmates, a thoughtlessness that is reflected in the lack of correctional policy and research concerning this subset of the prison population. Although few deliberate acts of abuse were observed against elderly inmates, the prison environment functioned under a one-size-fits all model that did not take into account the unique situation and needs of elderly inmates. Notes, references