Easily forgotten: Elderly female prisoners

Handtke, Violet; Elger, Bernice Simone; Wangmo, Tenzin

doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2014.10.003

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Initiatives have tried to occupy women in prison and to attend to psycho-social needs (Baybutt, 2013), and to the needs of both older and younger women (Handtke, 2015;Douglas and Plugge, 2008). Even so, women's prisons are described as being in "crisis" (Silverstri and Crowther-Dovey, 2008:39) due to the high rates of self-harm and mental distress, adding that far from 'healthy prisons', these places at:…”

Section: Towards Health Justice For Women Prisonersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health promoting prisons – An impossibility for women prisoners in Africa?

Dixey¹,

Nyambe

Foster

et al. 2015

Agenda

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The health needs of women in sub-Saharan African prisons are both neglected and poorly understood. Outside South Africa, little research exists on African prison health; what is available tends to be gender-blind and concerned with disease prevention rather than with health promotion. While Vetten (2008) has raised this concern previously, a comprehensive overview of women's health and health promotion in African jails is clearly absent. Available evidence shows that the conditions in African prisons are harmful to health, justifying a need for a health promoting prisons agenda rooted in the needs of sub-Saharan Africa. Women prisoners have significant mental and physical health needs, and international conventions on health care are not being respected globally. The health promoting prison concept has considerable attention in the Global North, with a commitment to equivalence of health care, gender sensitivity and to prisoners' social as well as health needs. This article provides an opportunity for critical reflection on women's health in prison, shows the lack of research in this area, questions the suitability of the health promoting prisons' agenda for sub-Saharan Africa, draws on our limited experience of the women's prison in Lusaka, Zambia, and produces recommendations to tackle women's health and wellbeing needs within the criminal justice systems of sub-Saharan Africa.

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Section: Towards Health Justice For Women Prisonersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health promoting prisons – An impossibility for women prisoners in Africa?

Dixey¹,

Nyambe

Foster

et al. 2015

Agenda

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“…Hence, the health of older prisoners was concluded to be worse than that of younger prisoners (Baillargeon, Black, Pulvino, & Dunn, 2000;Colsher, Wallace, Loeffelholz, & Sales, 1992;Fazel, Hope, O'Donnell, Piper, & Jacoby, 2001). Recent results on the somatic disease burden of prisoners in Switzerland revealed that older prisoners (i.e., aged 50 years and older) suffered from 4.2 diseases, whereas younger prisoners had 1.6 diseases (Wangmo et al, 2015). Recent results on the somatic disease burden of prisoners in Switzerland revealed that older prisoners (i.e., aged 50 years and older) suffered from 4.2 diseases, whereas younger prisoners had 1.6 diseases (Wangmo et al, 2015).…”

Section: Overview Of the Available Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, some data on female prisoners have been published elsewhere (Handtke, Bretschneider, Elger, & Wangmo, 2015). The research team requested the participating prisons to provide medical records of all prisoners who were 50 years and older.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To ensure a consistent collection of such information, the research team developed an extraction form that included all the items to collect from the medical records (see Wangmo et al, 2015 for more information on the data collection process). To ensure a consistent collection of such information, the research team developed an extraction form that included all the items to collect from the medical records (see Wangmo et al, 2015 for more information on the data collection process).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aging Prisoners in Switzerland

et al. 2015

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“…Identifying oneself based on relationships such as a father, a mother, and a grandparent is an expected finding in light of the importance of role identity, especially as a grandparent (Bordone and Arpino 2016;Di Gessa et al 2016;Kaufman and Elder 2003). Although this part of identity formation was hindered for these older prisoners as they were unable to carry out their grandparenting roles due to incarceration (Handtke et al 2015), they took pride in being part of a family tree and having descendants. We hypothesize that this feeling of belongingness derived from being a member of a close circle of persons may balance out the impression of random and anonymous existence as a prisoner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity as an older prisoner: findings from a qualitative study in Switzerland

2017

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The increasing numbers of aging prisoners raise the issue of how they maintain their personal identity and self-esteem in light of long-standing detention. This study sought to answer this question since identity and self-esteem could influence mental and physical health. We conducted a secondary analysis of 35 qualitative interviews that were carried out with older inmates aged 51-75 years (mean age: 61 years) living in 12 Swiss prisons. We identified three main themes that characterized their identity: personal characterization of identity, occupational identity, and social identity. These main themes were divided into sub-themes such as familial network, retirement rights or subjective social position. Personal characterization of identity mostly happened through being part of a network of family and/or friends that supported them during imprisonment and where the prisoner could return to after release. Individual activities and behavior also played an important role for prisoners in defining themselves. Occupational identity was drawn from work that had been carried out either before or during imprisonment although in some cases the obligation to work in prison even after reaching retirement age was seen as a constraint. Social identity came from a role of mentor or counselor for younger inmates, and in a few cases older prisoners compared themselves to other inmates and perceived themselves as being in a higher social position. Identity was often expressed as a mix between positive and negative traits. Building on those elements during incarceration can contribute to better mental health of the individual prisoner which in turn influences the chances for successful rehabilitation.

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Easily forgotten: Elderly female prisoners

Cited by 34 publications

References 26 publications

Health promoting prisons – An impossibility for women prisoners in Africa?

Health promoting prisons – An impossibility for women prisoners in Africa?

Aging Prisoners in Switzerland

Identity as an older prisoner: findings from a qualitative study in Switzerland

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