Spending the Golden Years Behind Bars: Predictors of Mental Health Issues Among Geriatric Prisoners

ABSTRACT

Mental illness in older inmates remains an underexplored topic of interest for prison research. The present study addresses gaps in extant literature, using a nationally representative sample of 1,907 male and female geriatric inmates in the United States (age range 50–84 years; M = 56) to analyze the association between mental health and predictors, such as gender, victimization, physical illnesses, and protective/ameliorative factors. The authors discuss their findings in relation to a theoretical framework that integrates the importation and deprivation models, as well as provide discourse on policy implications and future directions for research on older prison inmates.

KEYWORDS:

• deprivation
• gender differences
• importation
• mental health
• older inmates
• physical illness
• protective factors
• victimization