Portraits of Elderly Inmates: Incorporating special

populations into gerontology curriculum

Anne Katz, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Tina Maschi, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Aileen Hongo, MAG, ASW

and Ron Levine, Photojournalist

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

“A picture is worth a thousand words”-Author unknown

Myth ShatteredWE REMEMBER:

• 10 % of what we read

• 20% of what we hear

• 30% of what we see

• 50% of what we hear and see

• 70% of what we say

• 90% of what we say and do

Dale’s Cone of Learning

Source: http://www.angelo.edu/services/first_year_experience/documents/Dale's%20Cone%20of%20Learning.pdf

What the research says

• Multimodal learning

• Adding visual to text

• Visuals matter

• Encourage interaction

California Institution for Women

Facts and Figures

• In Californa, 7,550 persons over the age of 55

• By 2022, more than 30,000

• $70,000 annual cost

Transporting inmates *

82 years old – inmate withrenal failure- $400,000 per year*

Confinement of Older Women

• Number of geriatric female inmates has increased 350% in the past decade

• Unique set of health and safety issues

Daily Life Challenges• Eating

• Sleeping

• Walking/standing

• Bathing

• Getting in/out of bed

• “Drop Alarms”

• Hearing Loss

Prison is a place…where you learn that nobody needs you and that the outside world goes on

without you.

Aging Female Inmate Issues

• Menopause

• Bone Density

• Incontinence

• Pain (i.e. arthritis)

Issues of women 55+ cont.• Chronic Illness/Morbidity

• Depression/Anxiety

• External locus of control

• Change in family relationships

• Isolation

The Unmet Need

• Vulnerable population

within corrections

• Mental illness is rampant

THE GOLDEN GIRLSPhotos courtesy of Ron Levine

Golden Girls in the “cat program”

Golden Girl: Helen

• Born in Los Angeles

• Age: 66

• Lifer

Helen’s Insight“It’s a rare occasion when

we have the opportunity to

relax, laugh and just be

ourselves for awhile.

Generally, we are tense,

serious and vigilant

regarding the garbage

around us. For seniors, that

wariness is even more

intense…”

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“ He would go into black moods.

Very black moods where he

wouldn’t speak to me for 2 or 3

weeks. He would stay out in the

garage and only come in for meals.

He started hitting on my daughter.

That’s what done it. She was 28.

I’m not one that displays my

feelings that much, but that

morning I just snapped. I couldn’t

take it any longer, I couldn’t think

of a way out.

I was very hungry.”

-Julie, 55, Second Degree Murder

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“We are not watching soap operas and eating bonbons – we are doing hard time. You are never alone and your family is not here…” -Judy , age 61

“I have arthritis, high blood pressure and they don’t keep good medical records… “

Nancy, age 81

“I don’t want to die in prison…I’ve been here so long – it’s like shooting a dead dog..” Andrea, age 72

“The older you are, the less they care…”

Dee M.

Prison is a place…where late at night when it is quiet and dark, all the tough talk, mean faces, lies and fantasizing are replaced by a single tear that forms at the corner of your eyes, and it slowly rolls down your cheek and softly soaks into the pillow and reality becomes inescapable.

Prison is a place…where you find grey hairs on your head or you find your hair starting to disappear. It’s a place where you get false teeth, stronger glasses and aches and pains you never felt before.

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“ It’s hard. Its hard in here.

Because after so long you lose

support of your family. I have

children, but the last I’ve heard

from them was in 2005.

I’m in here for ‘helping my

family. I learnt my lesson. That

won’t happen again....but

y’see they don’t help me....

I just take care of myself the

best that I can…”

- Theda Rice, 77, Murder

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A Qualitative Investigation of Trauma and Stress, Coping Resources, and Well-Being among Older Adults in Prison

Dr. Tina Maschi, PH.D.

Interpersonal: Staff“harassment from officers”

“being picked on for petty things”

“being punished for other people’s actions

“male guard feeling on body”

Institutional/Cultural: Attitudes, Beliefs, Practices

“labeled prisoners”

“you’re identified as a number, and not as a human being,”

“being transferred to a new prison to be reclassified after 32 years which is a joke”

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Institutional/Cultural: Law, Policies, Rules

“fighting my case and bid for freedom while my son is in California spending a lot of money hiring one of the country’s top attorneys”

“I have been denied parole 8 times”

Institutional/Cultural: Poor Nutrition and Healthcare

“everyone chain smokes around me all the time”

“everyone chain smokes around me all the time”

“I would not wish this place on my worst enemy”

Internalized Trauma and Oppression

“I am afraid of dying in here”

“I fear others will learn the details of my crime.”

“I feel guilt- my family was harmed by my actions…how will I face my family?”

“I worry about when I get out-getting kids a place to live.”

Historical and Economic “the black man is an endangered species”

“the police framed me because I was black”

“I make fifty cents a day for eight hours of work”

“prison is new kind of slavery”

“prisons are designed for young people. Us older folks find it hard to get a job or education here”

Coping Sources

“I try to be secure in myself”

“I try to think positive and meditate and read”

“I participate every Monday in group therapy”

Coping Domains“I keep in touch with family members”

“Pray to God and go to church regularly

here”

“I run a bereavement group for other

inmates.”

“I do yoga, doctor, I do yoga.”

Ron’s section

Exercise