Elderly Population Rehabilitation

According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).

Generally, social work is affiliated with the younger population or topics of abuse and neglect in the home. While this can be a vital part of the job description, social work is a diversified field with many other career opportunities. A social worker’s ethical job responsibilities are outlined in NASW Code of Ethics (1999). The following sections will review these responsibilities in relation to aging populations and a social workers practice.

Prisons where essentially build to accommodate a number of prisoners but over the years it has reach over capacity. Today in the United States there are approximately 193,468 federal inmates that consisting of the Bureau of Prisons Custody, private managed facilities and other facilities. The inmates ages range from 18- 65 with the median age being in their late 30’s. This number is counting both male and female population with male being 93.3% of inmates and females being 6.7%. The number of inmates has steadily increase since 1980 with only having approximately less than 50,000 but today the number has gone more up. Drug offenses are the highest number for inmate’s imprisonment, the next highest offense would be weapons, explosives and arson; immigration and miscellaneous fall next in lines. The number for the other offenses such as robbery, extortion, fraud, bribery, burglary, larceny, property offenses and other offenses are lower. Overcrowding prison has become problematic as the prison population continue to increase leading to proper care and attention for prisoners.

The U.S prison population rose by 700% from 1970 to 2005. A rate far outpacing that of general population growth and crime rates.

Current trends show that incarceration numbers continue to grow higher each year. The United States rate of incarceration is the leading nation in rates of incarceration. Other countries have much lower percentages than the U.S. does. There a implications because of inmates reentering the prison system within three years after being released. In 1994 51.8% of inmates that had been released were back in the prison system (U.S. prison populations: Trends and implications, n.d.). Other implications

Overcrowding in our state and federal jails today has become a big issue. Back in the 20th century, prison rates in the U.S

P3: Explain ways in which health and social care workers support the independence and wellbeing of older people. M2: Assess ways in which health and social care workers support the independence and wellbeing of older people. D1: Evaluate ways in which the sectors work together to support the independence and wellbeing of older people. Doris has stayed connected with her friend Frieda who lives on her own independently but recently she has had a fall and she has been referred to the local authorities. P1& M2 When promoting independence and wellbeing in older people it has to be done in a way where the person feels that they are able to do what they are being asked to do and if they say that they don’t

One of the causes of prison overcrowding comes about because of the expansion rate of arrest and more noteworthy utilization of detainment. The criminal justice system is detaining more individuals to prison for a more drawn out period than the prison limit permits. The prison populace relies on upon the quantity of admissions and the quantity of release in a watched period. As indicated by admission and release information, drifts in the length of sentencing can be watched. Therefore, the reason behind the expansion in prison populace can be distinguished by breaking down each of the three patterns, the quantity of admissions, the quantity of releases, and the length of prison sentences (Novak, 2009). A large proportion of the prison populace is comprised of past convicts with new wrongdoing after they are discharged just to end up detained again. The offenders also may have committed a new crime that was recently established by the penal code while serving on parole. The expansion of criminal offenses to the penal code implies that offenders can

The graying of the nation’s inmates is also an issue which continues to swell the cost of health care within the prison. According to the Pew Center, “…between 1992 and 2001, the number of state and federal inmates aged 50 or older rose from 41,586 to 113,358.” Older inmates are gradually making up a larger proportion of the overall count. While one may say that aging decreases criminal activity, such as those that result from communicable diseases mentioned from the previous paragraph, there are many more factors that should be considered. One problem is that older inmates are often preyed upon by younger, stronger inmates; therefore, older inmates may require special housing. Hearing and visual

In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the

[The idea of compassionate release has been in practice in about thirty states in the union for many years. In all but three of the other states there were programs for the early release of terminally ill offenders (O’Meara, 2010). However, the limited budgets felt by many states has encouraged renewed discussion about compassionate and medical release of elderly inmates. In an article by Gregory J. O’Meara the change in policy in Wisconsin was examined. The changes in legislation expands the category of those eligible for sentencing modification and streamlines the procedure.

The objective of this study is to examine the evolution of programs and services for aging population over the last fifty years. Toward this end, this brief study will conduct a review of literature that addresses these shifts and changes in policy. The timeline of the history of the services and pogroms for the aging population in the United States is shown in the following timeline and an explanation for these develops will next follow the timeline.

The issue with aging prison members is that our legal system spends a majority of the money on our older inmates than our younger members. The three-strike rule in the United States is a big factor on why we have such a high rate with older inmates in our prisons. We imprison older members for life after they have committed more than three felonies regardless of the crime. That leads to our legal system being stuck with a lot of aging inmates. Our legal system has to pay more money in order to accommodate our older inmates because they require more medical needs. The Criminal justice system is spending a significant amount of money on our elderly sick inmates even though they are unable to commit any more crimes, leading to more problems

One example that is added to Tia Gubler’s (2006) report is to transfer older prisoners to a facility that is has equipment for those that need wheelchairs and walkers. I agree with this since the prisoners do not qualify for early release the next best thing would be to provide facilities that separate them from the rest of the prisoners and that specialize with the needs of the elderly. This will make the environment safe for the elderly because they will no longer have to associate with younger prisoners and it will increase the focus on their health and needs. The cost of these facilities might rise some concerns among society but I believe that the elder population will decrease if the non-risk offenders are released and it will cut down the cost. We can also provide interns and volunteers for these type of programs if that is necessary with the adequate training that will ensure their

It is common knowledge that the American prison system has grown exponentially in the last few decades. The prison population within the last forty years has risen by two million inmates. Multiple factors such as overcrowding and cost cutting have also decreased the quality of life within prisons by an order of magnitude. With this rising statistic, it becomes increasingly urgent to understand the effect of incarceration on our prisoners and whether the reformation process is actually doing more harm than good.