The American Prison Population Is Getting Older
Here's a disturbing fact: The number of prisoners in America over the age of 50 is accelerating at an astonishing rate. According to a new report by the Urban Institute, 18 percent of prisoners in the federal system are over the age of 50. That might not seem like a large number, but you have to consider that in 1994 prisoners over 50 made up only 12 percent of the prison population. That's an increase of 330 percent in just a decade. Older prisoners make up the fastest-growing portion of those incarcerated, and those numbers are only expected to increase.
Explosive Growth
Prisoners over 50 made up just 12% of the federal prison population in 1994, but rose 330% in a decade, now reaching 18%.
What brought this about? Why has the over-fifty crowd turned to a life of crime? Is this just some sort of extreme mid-life crisis? Not exactly; the entire population of the United States has been skewing older as the Baby Boomers mature (although mature is clearly a relative term). With the population generally having a few extra grey hairs, it's only natural that some of these people will end up behind bars.
Another reason for the advancing age of prisoners is the system itself. More and more people have been sentenced to longer and longer terms, meaning there is a population of people who are growing old behind bars.
"We incarcerate more people than anyone else in the world, and matching that trends has been more emphasis on the punitiveness of the system," Bryce Peterson, one of the report's authors told The Atlantic's CityLab blog. "So, crimes that maybe received lesser sentences 10 years, 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, are now getting longer sentences."
"We incarcerate more people than anyone else in the world, and matching that trend has been more emphasis on the punitiveness of the system."
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Over the next five years, the report estimate that prisoners over 50 will reach 28 percent of the incarcerated population. And the rise in older prisoners will have a profound effect on the economy. Experts estimate that older prisoners cost nearly double their younger counterparts due to health and psychological needs. That makes imprisoning older offenders a costly problem.
The report goes on to suggest that keeping the elderly incarcerated doesn't make much sense. Older prisoners are less likely to be repeat offenders, and many have had success in rehabilitation and compassionate release programs. Unfortunately, the scope of these programs is limited, usually only available to prisoners heading to hospice. Experts believe that further research is needed to solve the problem of older prisoners, as the impact on our economy and society is still murky at best.
Essentially, America is getting older. There's nothing wrong with that (it happens to everyone). But unless we make some dramatic changes to our penal system and the way we handle prisoners, the younger generation may well spend the next few decades forking over cash to keep their older counterparts behind bars.
[Pic via Flickr - Rüdiger skINMATE]
