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.