Causes of Aging in the Federal Prison Population and a Comparison to States

• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Author: Daniel Litwok,Christopher Cutler,Jeremy Luallen
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016819876337
• Date: 01 March 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Causes of Aging in the Federal

Prison Population and a

Comparison to States

Daniel Litwok

1

, Christopher Cutler

1

, and Jeremy Luallen

2

Abstract

The unremitting growth of older inmates in prison populations is one of the most pressing concerns

in federal corrections today; however, empirical research on the topic says little about the causes of

these changes. This article addresses this gap by applying an established methodology to analyze and

quantify the contributions of key factors driving the growth of aging federal prison populations.

Specifically, we use data from the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to determine how changes

to prisoner age at entry, rate of entry, and rate of exit have shaped the prison population over recent

decades. Overall, we find that from 1994 to 2004, rapid increases in the rate of prisoner admission

explain the majority of growth in the elderly population, but that since 2004, age at admission has

been much more important, with longer time served and rate of admission also playing a role. These

influences appear to be quite different from those shaping state prison populations. Our results

suggest optimal policy responses to aging populations will need to be tailored to their jurisdiction.

Keywords

institutional corrections, quantitative methods, crime policy, evaluation research

The unremitting growth of older inmates in prison populations is one of the most pressing concerns

in federal corrections today. Concern in large part stems from the budgetary pressures created by a

rising population with greater medical needs and associated costs of care. A recent report by the

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) within the Department of Justice reflects these concerns in

detailing the associated costs of, and capacity for, medical care of older inmates administered by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP; OIG, 2015). In this report, the OIG cites that the population of

federal inmates over the age of 50 continues to be the fastest growing age segment among prison

populations, increasing by 25%from fiscal year (FY) 2009 to FY2013. By comparison, the propor-

tion of inmates 49 and younger decreased by 1%over this same period. This report also finds that

1

Abt Associates, Rockville, MD, USA

2

Athena Health, Watertown, MA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Daniel Litwok, Abt Associates, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.

Email: dan_litwok@abtassoc.com

Criminal Justice Review

2020, Vol. 45(1) 129-142

ª2019 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016819876337

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