The Victimization of Older Adults in Prison

Introduction

Although prison administrators are concerned about misconduct in prison by incarcerated persons, they also face challenges in protecting persons in prison from victimization. Research on United States (U.S.) prisons indicates that prison is a violent place, with the prevalence of victimization being high (Daquin & Daigle, 2017; Maitland & Sluder, 1998; Perez et al., 2010; Schnittker & Bacak, 2015; Wooldredge, 1994). Most commonly, incarcerated persons experience property (e.g., theft) or physical victimization (e.g., assault) (Lahm, 2009; Wolff et al., 2009) with a smaller proportion experiencing sexual victimization (Beck et al., 2014). Much of this research has documented the extent to which victimization occurs and its associated risk factors. In doing so, researchers have found that in prison, males face elevated risks for victimization compared to females (Perez et al., 2010; Teasdale et al., 2016; Wolff et al., 2009), non-White persons are more at risk for victimization than others (Wolff & Shi, 2009; Wooldredge & Steiner, 2012), persons with mental disorders are more likely to be victimized than others (Daquin & Daigle, 2017; Schnittker & Bacak, 2015; Teasdale et al., 2016), and younger people face higher risks of victimization than older adults (Daquin & Daigle, 2017; Valentine et al., 2015; Wooldredge & Steiner, 2012).

Elder abuse/victimization (hereafter elder abuse) is a violation of human rights and is classified as a public health problem (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Yet elder abuse in the prison context has received little attention. Despite not facing higher risks than younger incarcerated persons, older adults in prison may be uniquely vulnerable to victimization, which may carry more serious consequences for them as compared to younger incarcerated persons. In line with the importation explanation of prison adaptation (Irwin & Cressey, 1962), people’s characteristics they bring with them into prison influence their experience there. Age is one of these characteristics that influences prison life. In addition, according to another explanation of prison adaptation, the prison experience itself is depriving; thus, persons in prison adapt in ways to handle the pains of imprisonment (Sykes, 1958). It may be that the prison environment is particularly harmful for older adults who are incarcerated. Thus, it is important to gain an understanding of the extent to which older adults in prison are victimized, the types of victimization they experience, the consequences of their victimization, as well as the reasons for their victimization. Doing so can guide the development of practice and policy for prison administrators as well as shape future research. To begin, a review of the literature on victimization in prison and the theories that have been used to explain why some people are at higher risk of victimization than others is provided. Then, there is a discussion on age and how older people in prison are defined and how prison influences the aging process. Next, the victimization of older adults in prison and why older adults may face unique risks is addressed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the policies and practices that can be adopted to ensure that older adults in prison are protected from victimization.