Ageing In Captivity: Understanding The Needs Of Elderly Prisoners In India

Anushree Malviya, PhD Scholar at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow

ABSTRACT

A society functions on the wisdom of its ancestors. This wisdom, can either be used to move forward in life or it can be used to learn a lesson on what not to do if we are to move forward in life. With the growing population of the world, it is inevitable that a portion of the society would be ignored. And through the looking glass we find that the most ignored portion of the society are usually these ancestors i.e. the elderly persons of the society. What is worse is that a percentage of the elderly reside in prisons which is another ignored facet of our society.

With no specific definition for “elderly prisoners”, the average consensus worldwide is that prisoners aged fifty and above fall into this category. What is not usually understood is that the problems faced by the normal prison populace are aggravated for these elderly prisoners, owing to their health issues- both physical and mental, and their daily special needs. According to reports from the Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the ageing process is accelerated by almost 10 years in prisons because their previous health problems are worsened due to the surrounding prison environment.

It is thus, essential to understand age-specific problems like acclimatisation issues, family issues, lodging issues, and health issues which are ubiquitous in all prison systems of the world. The author intends to understand which population can be categorised as elderly prisoners based on their needs and look into such issues that are faced by elderly prisoners in India.

Keywords: Elderly prisoners, health issues, abuse, neglect.