Elderly Offenders
Many people when they hear the word inmate they usually think of a young male or female between the ages of eighteen to their late twenties, and for the most part it is true. About more than half of the prison population consist of younger inmates. But for the past few decades the elderly or geriatric population has increased exponentially. Most of the elderly inmate population ranges from the ages of their early fifties and older, studies have shown that from 1995 to 2010 the portion of inmates ages 54 or older has almost tripled from 3% to 8%. As the population grows larger, more problems arise dealing with cost and maintaining inmates from overcrowding. Due to medical and health problems, geriatric inmates possess, it takes about $75,000 a year just to maintain an elderly inmate locked up almost two to three times more than a younger inmate . …show more content…
The first group consists of inmates who have committed serious crimes when they were younger such as brutal sexual assault or murder, and are convicted later on in their life usually serving long term sentences. This group of inmates makes most of the elderly prison population and usually don’t pose a threat to each other or security. The next group of inmates are first time offenders they usually are convicted of financial crimes such as tax evasion, some other crimes include molestation or pedophilia. This type of inmate is known to be the most violent out of the other two, they pose a great risk in harming others and themselves due to their poor mental health. The third and last group is known as repeat offenders or offenders that are always continuously in and out of prison. These inmates crimes consist of stealing, shoplifting, drugs, and driving while intoxicated. For the most part they end up serving their sentence for the rest of their life and they usually don’t cause any trouble or harm to
Many people when they hear the word inmate they usually think of a young male or female between the ages of eighteen to their late twenties, and for the most part it is true. About more than half of the prison population consist of younger inmates. But for the past few decades the elderly or geriatric population has increased exponentially. Most of the elderly inmate population ranges from the ages of their early fifties and older, studies have shown that from 1995 to 2010 the portion of inmates ages 54 or older has almost tripled from 3% to 8%. As the population grows larger, more problems arise dealing with cost and maintaining inmates from overcrowding. Due to medical and health problems, geriatric inmates possess, it takes about $75,000 a year just to maintain an elderly inmate locked up almost two to three times more than a younger inmate . …show more content…
The first group consists of inmates who have committed serious crimes when they were younger such as brutal sexual assault or murder, and are convicted later on in their life usually serving long term sentences. This group of inmates makes most of the elderly prison population and usually don’t pose a threat to each other or security. The next group of inmates are first time offenders they usually are convicted of financial crimes such as tax evasion, some other crimes include molestation or pedophilia. This type of inmate is known to be the most violent out of the other two, they pose a great risk in harming others and themselves due to their poor mental health. The third and last group is known as repeat offenders or offenders that are always continuously in and out of prison. These inmates crimes consist of stealing, shoplifting, drugs, and driving while intoxicated. For the most part they end up serving their sentence for the rest of their life and they usually don’t cause any trouble or harm to