.. at : 4$ = • If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. ... II _ C/?~s()r 'l-1:J-tY \ ~ This microfiche was produced from documents received for inclusion in the NCJRS data base. Since NCJRS cannot exercise ~" control over the physical condition of the documents submitted, The Service Neids of Older Offenders the individual frame quality will vary. The resolution chart on L this frame mc:..;' be used to evaluate the document quality. Harris Chaiklin University of Maryland /////1. 0 School of Social Work 525 W. Redwood Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 "III~ and Larry Fultz Maryland Correctional Institution IIIII~ 111111.4 /////1.6 Jessup, Maryland 20794 For presentation at: MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART 1983 NASW Professional Symposium NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS.1953.A Novembers 1983 Washington, D.C. Microfilming procedures used to create this fiche comply with the standards set forth in 41CFR 101-11.504. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official ,t;if~~S= 92775 position or policies of the U. S. Department of Justice. ThIs ~lInont h~s ~lIn reproduC$d. 1I/1ICUy, ~ I1)I1;lllved from tho , .~ Of' organlzalfon t>riolflllUng II. Polnta or view Of opinions st&teo In \hIa, document I1t(f t1m9 Of tn. GuttlCn!llld (10 rlot necessarily J;.tslieo.roprtl~( lt10 Ollie/Ill j)Otllt/atl 0( JIOIIcieI Of In. N.lIonallnstilute' . 01 National Institute of Justice Porm/sfJon to teprcdueQl/)/s tq)yrig!1tlld m~tlJrlllr has beon United States Department of Justice grantcdby , Washington, D. C. 20:;31 ~d Diyision OF Corrections 5/30/84 I; " au : 6 4$ • Abstract Introduction Prison re~abilitation programs are youth and labor market Prisons are perplexing. They r.~flect the contradictory na­ oriented. The needs of older offenders tend to be neglected. ture of the A~erican character. The most humanitarian nation in the major requirements of these offenders include ?larification the world is also among the most punitive. We give longer sen­ of social service needs and rights, family relationships, health tencs for more offenses than any nation in the world. Only Rus­ problems, and emotional problems. The older offender includes sia and South Africa have higher per capita prison rates than we the long termer, the in and outer, and the person who entered do. Sometimes it appears we are doing our best to catch up. As prison for the first time late in life. Their offenses range a nation we are not certain about what we should try to do with from violent crimes to non-violent sex offenses. prisoners. Social work's relation to corrections is equally perplexing. The"profession's interest in corrections has waxed and waned. We can't seem to make up our mind as to whether or not corrections is a legitimate area of social work activity. This is surprising in a profession committed to removing injustice and providing treatment and services for all Americans. While incarceration :Jj.Jt~ S{)~.' IO}'\JIj,N~t may be helpful to a person and to society, it is always punish­ ing. Wilde said in the Ballad of Reading Jail: pl.CQUISITiONS All that we know who be in jail Is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long. If it is hard to be in prison it is harder still to be old and in prison; for one is doubly afflicted. This paper brings a social work perspective to the needs of older prisoners through an ex­ amination of the records of the 12 oldest offenders in the Mary­ land State Prison System. We leave to others to answer the ques­ tion of why corrections is not higher on social work's priori- ties. 2 The Problem of 'the Older Offender age. 4 A survey of'MMPI profiles of older prisoners offers few clues. They are more neurotic and l~ss psychopathic than the The lite~ature on the aged offender does not develop a com­ ... prehensive p~ture of who they are as individuals, what their younger inmates. The one possible hint was that, "They appeared needs are, and how they c,)uld be helped while in prison or for a to have limited ability to cope with situational stress and ap- life after prison. A dec a d e ago Krause and Schafer said the same peared to have difficulty in personal adaptability and resource­ thing, "Criminological gerontology is highly neglected, if not fulness.,,5 If this was their situation prior to being in prison completely non-existent.'" While those over 60 are less than and was a life-long pattern it could help explain the high pro- five percent of the prison population their situation is compel­ portion of older offenders who have committed crimes of violence ling in terms of its human costs. associated with impulse. If one cannot tole~ate sitaational stress, like the proverbial ra~ they will lash out if cornered. The Grimes of Older Offenders . In addition, all the surveys show high rates of alcoholism among People in prison who are aged are some th'lng of a curiosity. older offenders. The unpredictability of the violence pattern They do not fit the usual stereotype of the criminal. Crime is and the lack of explanation for it form the backdrop of our supposed to be a young man's activity with offenders "burning analysis. out" by the age of forty. 'That is true only in a relati ve sense. A recent Department of Justice Survey indicates that about ninety Prison Programming for the Older Offender Two things characterize attempts to help the older offender. percent of state prison inmates are below the age of forty. Yet, The first is that he does not fit into most of the programs of those above fortv. almost 47~~ had been sentenced to prison for the first time after reachl'ng that age. I n con t rast to older available in the prison and the second is that there is little prisoners who had prior records these fl'rst time offenders com- agreement about what kinds of specialized programming to try. mitted more crimes of violence and sex crimes than their age Prison rehabilitation programs are in short supply. There is peers; they had almost 65% of the murder charges, almost 58% of little effort to engage older offenders in the limited education- the rapes and almost 75% of lewd acts with children. 2 aI, vocational, or treatment services that are available in pris- The relationship between age and crime is unclear.3 One on. This only parallels the experience of the aged in our school of thought sees this as a manifestation of a chronic brain society. In state employment service registries they are about syndrome associated with aging, another sees it as stemming from 2% of those on file and about 1% of those placed. Since it has the frustrations of old age, and a thl'rd sees it as coming from a been possible to receive Social Security at age 62 over half of hypersensitivity that is asspciated with social isolation in old 3 4 $ 4 4# • ---~~----------.~----------------~----~--~~-­ ,I r11 calming effect on. the insti tution. 9 Another reaches exactly the all new have done 80 at this age. When Pownall con- recipi~nts opposite conclusion; that staying in the general population leads ducted a national survey on the employment problems of released to their bein~ victims. IO The conditions under which integration offenders he ...concluded: or segregation w,ould work is a matte'r for the futur'e. What is The emphasis in most correctional training and placement programs often has been on youthful relevant here is that the. discussion about what to do with the offenders. As an unfortunate consequence, older offenders experience proportionately greater elderly prisoner takes place in the context of how to control the hardship in finding jobs th8n older persons in the civilian labor force. There is an obvious institution and not how to relate to the needs of this special need for special programs emphasizing job placement and community-based treatment to aid older offenders.6 group. With this in mind we shall now examine the offenders who are the subject of this paper. It is difficult enough for the aged who must work; if they are in prison and get no help in preparation for release it is almost The Eloerly Dozen imppssible. Weigand and Burge~ in one of the few examinations of Social Characteristics institutional preparation and its relationship to parole conclude The social characteristics of the 12 oldest offenders in the that: Maryland prison system in table 1 reflect both their plight and What is needed is a change in overall perspective. The specific dynamics of the their danger. They are old, ages range from 68-88, male, black older offender need to be recognized and the I institutional and probation/parole systems I; and poor. While they have come to prison at various times in , I modified to fit this new emerging picture.7 1 ~ I' 'I their life most of them have long sentences. The range is 3 Even the slightest improvement is going to take a lot of work. J years to life. This is because the offenses they are confined What lies in back of this is the ever present need of prisons I~ for are connected with violence. The only exceptions in this 1 to keep their population under control. While prison officials ; I group are one rerson convicted of a sex offense with a child and I ; talk about programming in terms of rehabilitation their first I one person convicted of disturbing the peace.