Dying Inside: Elderly in prison | Fault Lines

First discussion : Elderly Inmates

After watching the video about elderly inmates in this week’s module, address the following questions:

Why do we have such a rapidly growing population of elderly inmates? The video discusses several reasons.

What statistics as quoted in our video this week were surprising to you?

Discuss your thoughts about one of the inmates that was interviewed in this video. What was their sentence, what crime did they commit, how long have they been in prison? Do they seem to still be dangerous? If not, should they still be in prison?

Should elderly inmates get special treatment? Should they get released when the get old, sick, and are not dangerous anymore? Why or why not?

Discussion 2 : Elder Abuse

Let’s talk a little about elderly abuse. How is elderly abuse defined? What are the most common forms of elder abuse?

How is elder abuse different from child abuse? Should offenders be given the same punishments as child abusers? How do you think elderly abusers would be perceived in prison compared to child abusers?

Should people convicted of elder abuse be subject to more serious penalties that crimes against others?

Include at least 1 outside reference in your post.