NCJ Number
192660
Date Published
2001
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This chapter focuses on the elderly offender in the criminal justice system.
Abstract
The elderly criminal offender has received relatively little attention within the criminal justice system. In defining the term “elderly,” the term is reserved for senior citizens in the larger society, but in the prison setting, the age of 30 is considered old. The Uniform Crime Report defines older offenders as 55 years of age or older. The neglect of the elderly offender can be attributed to the reluctance of criminal justice administrators to allocate scarce funds for special programs aimed at a small category of offenders who present them with few problems as far as supervision is concerned. The causes of crime among elderly offenders with long criminal histories could be that they continue to receive psychic and financial rewards from crime, or they are immature individuals who lack the insight of the midlife reassessment process. Some elderly criminals have simply found their “comfort zone” in prison. Most criminals “mature” out of crime by the time they are 40, if not well before that. This is probably because the major sources of reinforcement of criminal behavior, such as money, sex, status, and antisocial peer pressure, are absent or relatively weak. There is some indication that elderly offenders are treated more leniently than their younger counterparts. The main problem for the institutional correctional administrators presented by the elderly is financial. Because of health problems suffered by the elderly, it costs about $69,000 a year or more to maintain a person in prison who is 50 years of age or older. Many elderly offenders who may have otherwise been incarcerated are diverted into community corrections. They present relatively few supervision problems to probation/parole officers. Some specific aspects of community supervision are problem drinking, hearing impairment, and the importance of treating elderly offenders with respect and dignity while also holding them accountable. 40 references