Elderly Prisoners Analysis

There are several challenges that elderly inmates pose for institutions. One of the first things to realize is the population of elderly inmates is increasing at a very fast rate (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Knowing this, experts have made an argument for housing the elderly inmates separate from other prisoners (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). This would allow the facilities to better care and provide the appropriate treatment for the differences in age of inmates (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Another benefit argued by these experts is that by separating the elderly fro the young prisoners and having specific facilities geared toward the special need of elder inmates would prevent liabilities for the institutions concerning compliance with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Safety is another reason to segregate the young and older prisoners. Studies have shown that older prisoners are often victims of attack from the younger inmates prompting them to prefer being in segregation (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). …show more content…
Plus, the staff is better trained to deal specifically with the elderly inmates. Still, for women elderly prisoners who roughly account for seven percent of all female elder prisoners typically stay in a state woman’s prisons. I wonder if the rate of women being incarcerated continues at the current rate if this group will eventually be seeking separate facilities similar to their male