doi:10.1080/ XXXXXXXXXX
Ageing Prisoners: Issues for Social
Work*
John Dawes
Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Abstract
The growing numbers and increasing proportion of aged prisoners in Australia is an issue
causing some concern, but it has received little public or academic attention here. This
article, an outcome of an extensive literature review and a small research study into some
individual prisoners’ experience of ageing in South Australian prisons, aims to draw
attention to the cu
ent situation and what it means to these particular prisoners.
Participants shared thoughts, feelings, and reflections about their lives, life-long losses
and, for some, the meaning of dying in prison. Analysis revealed themes whose
consistency with existing literature suggests they are valid areas meriting timely policy
and practice concern and development: prison regimes, housing, health care, and
imprisonment or release. The issues raised are discussed in the context of the available
literature. This problematic area merits attention from the social work profession and
further research.
Keywords: Co
ections; Aged; Bereavement
Yesterday in the morning, I reckon, I looked in the mi
or. Me say how come I look
like this? I was young before XXXXXXXXXXPrisoner (P) 2).
Australia’s Ageing Population
There is considerable concern about the ramifications of Australia’s ageing
population. During the 100 years to 2001, the percentage of Australia’s general
population over 65 increased from 4% to 12.5%; life expectancy increased to 80 years
for women and 79 years for men, a trend that is expected to continue this century.
Co
espondence to: Dr John Dawes, Flinders University, Law School, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001,
Australia. E-mail: XXXXXXXXXX
Accepted 6 Fe
uary 2009
*The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Department for Co
ectional Services,
South Australia.
ISSN 0312-407X (print)/ISSN XXXXXXXXXXonline) # 2009 Australian Association of Social Workers
DOI: XXXXXXXXXX/ XXXXXXXXXX
Australian Social Work
Vol. 62, No. 2, June 2009, pp. 258�271
A notable exception to this is Australia’s Indigenous population, which has a reported
life expectancy that is approximately 17 years less for both men and women. In 2021,
Australia’s median population is expected to be aged between 39.9 and 41.7 years,
increasing to 44.6�48.2 years in 2051 (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2006).
South Australia has the highest median age of 37 years in 2002 (ABS, 2004a). Social
work has a role in contributing to policy and practice development in this area.
Australia’s Changing Prisoner Population
Over the past 25�30 years, Australia’s prisoner population has increased markedly,
more rapidly than if accounted for by general population growth. Table 1 shows that
the number of prisoners almost doubled in the 15 years from 1988�9 (the
icentennial year of Australia’s settlement as a British penal colony) to 2004 and
increased to 27,615 in June 2008. This increase is also reflected in the imprisonment
ate (i.e., the number of prisoners as a proportion of the general population of
imprisonable age), which has risen from 91 per 100,000 in 1976�7, to 169 per 100,000
in June 2008 (ABS, XXXXXXXXXXThis measure allows comparisons between Australian
jurisdictions and with other countries (Pratt, 2008).
At June 2008, the imprisonment rate for women was 24 per 100,000 and, fo
Aboriginal people, the age standardised rate was 1,769 per 100,000 of the adult
Indigenous population (ABS, 2009).
Older Prisoners
Although the ABS classifies those over 65 years as elderly, the most common
definition for an ‘‘elderly inmate’’ is someone aged 50 years and older (Grant, 1999;
Howse, XXXXXXXXXXResearch has identified an apparent 10-year differential between the
overall health of prisoners and that of the general population (Aday, 2003, p. 88;
Dawes, 1997, pp. 193�261; Fazel, Hope, O’Donnell, Piper, & Jacoby, 2001, p. 406).
This is attributed to the former lifestyles of prisoners, many of whom used drugs and
alcohol to excess, had poor eating habits and a stressful life, and commonly
Table 1 Australia’s increasing use of imprisonment
Period Daily average Imprisonment rate
1976�7 8, XXXXXXXXXX
1988�9 12,004 96
September quarter, XXXXXXXXXX,490 153
June quarter, XXXXXXXXXX,615 169
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004b, p. 3; 2008) and Walker (1994, pp. 24�25).
Daily average refers to the count of prisoners held each day and then averaged out over the standard period.
The imprisonment rate is the ratio of those imprisoned over 100,000 of the population of imprisonable age and
is expressed as a number.
Australian Social Work 259
experienced economic disadvantage (Aday, 2003; Dawes, 1997; Kratcoski & Pownall,
1989).
On 30 June 2008, prisoners aged 50 years and over comprised nearly 11% of the
total prison population (ABS, XXXXXXXXXXIn 2007, the ABS reported that there were 2,927
male prisoners over 50 years of age, including 443 over 65 (ABS, XXXXXXXXXXOf the daily
average for women over XXXXXXXXXX,963 prisoners), 175 were over 50 years of age. This
compares with a daily average of 6,708 for Aboriginal prisoners, 252 of whom were
over 50 years of age (ABS, XXXXXXXXXXDespite growing numbers of these ageing, mainly
male, prisoners, they remain su
ounded by young adult males who form 68% of the
prisoner population (ABS, XXXXXXXXXXOn 30 June 2008, the median age of all prisoners in
Australia was 33 years. Most of the prisoners in all selected offences/charge categories
were aged 25�34 years, except for those incarcerated for homicide and sexual assault,
most of whom were aged 35�44 years (ABS, 2009).
The data above show that it is likely that all Australian co
ectional systems will face
the challenge of caring for increasing numbers of elderly prisoners in the next few years.
Older prisoners present special problems in terms of their health needs, adjustment to
prison life, and probable loss of family and community contact (Aday, 2003; Crawley,
2004). Elderly sentenced prisoners are also more likely to be held in lower security
prisons (because of their perceived lower risk), which may be beneficial in terms of
lifestyle, housing, and regimes, but creates difficulties is accessing services, especially
acute medical services, because such prisons tend to be located away from majo
population centres. Such placement may also contribute to weakening family ties*
‘‘Too long and my people not have much money to spend [on] petrol all the time’’ (P2).
Differences Among Elderly Prisoners
The following four groups of elderly prisoners have been identified by Aday (2003,
p. 18).
First Time in Prison/Elderly New Prisoners
Prior to imprisonment, such people are often well known because of their offences
(fraud, child sexual offences, murder) and subsequent publicity (see, for example,
Fewster, 2008; p. 42; Stewart, XXXXXXXXXXMany deny their guilt. Family and friends can be
shocked by the alleged offences. A major
each of trust may result, causing damaged
or fractured relationships. Their transition to prison is often extremely difficult*‘‘the
issues are that you are left without any hope whatsoever’’ (P9)*and they can be at
isk of serious self-harm or suicide.
Imprisonment can represent the final dramatic change in status for this group and
the last step in the series of humiliating experiences (status degradation). Thei
offences, especially for those convicted of sexual offences, may make them vulnerable
in prison to bullying, harassment, or serious violence and even death (Dawes, 1997).
They may present with serious health issues, including psychiatric mo
idity (Aday,
2003; Fazel et al., 2001; Howse, 2003; McCarthy, 1983; Specter, 1994).
260 J. Dawes
Career or Chronic Offenders
Career or chronic offenders are prisoners who return to prison regularly because of
eoffending. Although some may eventually stop offending and re-establish
themselves in the community, many will continue coming into prison until they
ecome elderly.
‘‘Lifers’’ Who Have Grown Old in Prison
Lifers who have grown old in prison are serving natural life sentences. Those with
parole periods set by the courts may be released, but those serving life without the
possibility of release, or with very long periods to be served before parole, may die in
prison. Prison is their ‘‘home’’. As they grow old, their care presents many challenges
to the authorities because of institutionalisation, loss of social skills, chronic and
possibly increasing health issues, and manifestations of ageing, such as loss of
mobility and coordination leading to a need for assistance with activities of daily
living (Dawes, 2002a). Senility, dementia, and terminal illness may create a need fo
nursing home or hospice care (Dawes & Dawes, XXXXXXXXXXFor these prisoners in
particular, family contact usually becomes less frequent or ceases with each passing
year, increasing the significance to them of their in-prison network. Thus, possible
elease becomes problematic. The loss of family, lack of sponsors, and probably
cultural shock of returning to the world outside presents additional challenges to
those working with such prisoners.
Prisoners Given Shorter Sentences Late in Life
Prisoners given shorter sentences late in life can be differentiated from the high-
profile, first-time older prisoners, but they may also present with serious health
problems that require ongoing care. The generally compromised state of prisone
health (see above) places added demands on prison management that create special
challenges within the prison context and its place in the community.
Rationale for the Study
There is a dearth of Australian literature relating to the older prisoner as a
demographic group in our prisons that hampers the development of well-founded
policies and practices addressing their needs. The present limited exploratory study
was undertaken in South Australia as an initial attempt to draw attention to the issues
of these older prisoners. In many respects, they are not so dissimilar from othe
ageing people, but their history and context creates particular difficulties in meeting
their needs*‘‘I don’t class myself as a bad person because I’m in here, you know!’’
(P4). Social work has always been concerned with supporting the disadvantaged and
marginalised, and ageing prisoners form a growing sector of such clients. It was
therefore decided to undertake the present study to highlight the issues involved,
using the perspective of the prisoners themselves. What do prisoners think about
Australian Social Work 261
ecoming old in prison? What issues do they perceive? How do they evaluate thei
lives? What is it like to face one’s death in prison?
Method
Prisoners occupy a relatively powerless social position and older prisoners perhaps
especially so. Symbolic interactionism, developed by George He
ert Mead (1934),
Blumer (1969, 1972), and Goffman XXXXXXXXXXwas chosen as an appropriate
methodological approach. De Laine (1997, p. 69) has noted Denzin’s XXXXXXXXXXclaim
about the utilisation of this approach by those who wish to speak for the powerless in
society, suggesting its methodological relevance to social work. ‘‘Mead believed that
symbolic naming is the