Wasted Lives: Aging as an Incentive for Reconstruction of Desistance Intentions Among Older Adults in Prison
| Author | Hila Avieli |
| Published date | 01 November 2020 |
| Date | 01 November 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820937325 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2020
Wasted Lives
aging as an incentive for Reconstruction of desistance
intentions among Older adults in Prison
HILA AVIELI
Ariel University
There is growing scholarly interest in older adults involved in crime and their lives in prison. However, the specific group of
older adults who persistently offend (OAPO) and their desistance intentions has received little attention. The present study
aims to explore the lived experiences of OAPO who intend to desist from crime. Seventeen OAPO were interviewed, and an
interpretive phenomenological analysis approach was used to analyze the narratives they presented. Participants’ interviews
revealed four superordinate themes: (1) insight and change in the lives of OAPO; (2) a series of losses lead to disillusionment
with a life of crime; (3) desistance as the only alternative; and (4) fear of death in prison as a catalyst for desistance. The
findings suggest that desistance intention among older adults in prison is an individualized process deeply affected by age-
related motivations and dynamics.
Keywords: older adults who persistently offend; prison; qualitative; desistance intentions; narrative
Older incarcerated individuals comprise the fastest-growing demographic in the
United States and Europe prison systems (Canada et al., 2019). Men accused of
offenses, age 50 years and older, constitute approximately 16% of the state and federal
prison population (Chettiar et al., 2012) and this number is expected to increase, given
the aging of the general population, the issuing of longer sentences, and the reduction of
parole and early release policies (Fellner & Vinck, 2012). In Israel, where the study took
place, older adults consist of 6.8% of the male prison population. This number repre-
sents an increase of 190% over the past decade and a half. Thus, while still relatively
low, the sharp increase in the number of older adults involved in crime in Israel is con-
sistent with global trends (Davidesko & Volk, 2012).
authOR’s NOte: The author would like to acknowledge the support of the Third Age Grant Program at
Ariel University and the Israeli Prison Service Research Unit for enabling this research. Correspondence con-
cerning this article should be addressed to Hila Avieli, Department of Criminology, Ariel University, Ariel
40700, Israel; e-mail: hilav@ariel.ac.il.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2020, Vol. 47, No. 11, November 2020, 1547 –1565.
DOI: 10.1177/0093854820937325
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© 2020 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
1547
1548 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR
One of the essential questions in criminological research and theory is why and how
people, including older adults, desist from crime. A contemporary definition of desistance
is a continuous process of change by which people attain a state of non-offending (Bushway
et al., 2001). Although research has established that older adults recidivate at a lower rate
than younger people (Durose et al., 2014; Hoffman & Beck, 1984), how these individuals
find their path to desistance remains mostly unknown (Rocque, 2015; Sparkes & Day,
2016). This is particularly true of older adults who persistently offend (OAPO) whose desis-
tance seemed out of reach throughout their long criminal careers. This lack of understand-
ing is significant, both because of the scope of the phenomenon—12% of U.S. incarcerated
individuals aged 50 years and above are released each year (Wyse, 2018)—and because
desistance can be critical to the social integration process, with important implications for
individuals’ long-term health and well-being (Hunter & Farrall, 2018).
The current study explores the lived experiences of OAPO in prison, intending to desist
from crime. As this group challenges conservative notions of desistance as “aging out of
crime,” it is essential to address their motivations for desistance and the possibility for
transformation as they see it at this point in their life.
OaPO
The conventional cutoff used to define old age in the general population in Europe
and the United States is 65 years (Balachandran & James, 2019). However, people con-
fined to prison’s unhealthy lifestyles and inadequate health care often accelerate the
onset and progression of chronic conditions associated with aging; thus, old age in prison
typically commences at the age of 50 to 55 years (Aday & Maschi, 2019; Loeb &
AbuDagga, 2006). Older adults in prison are often divided into three basic categories
(Aday, 2003; Goetting, 1984): individuals who were first incarcerated their late in life;
lifers—those incarcerated for 10 or more years before the age of 55 years and who, con-
sequently, experience the aging process in prison; and OAPO, who are the focus of the
current study (Wyse, 2018). The term OAPO refers to both older adults who have cycled
in and out of prison since they were juveniles and adults with two or more prison sen-
tences of varying lengths (Maschi et al., 2013).
These individuals are usually well adjusted to the prison system and have an active sup-
port group of other individuals in prison (Aday, 2006; Kratcoski, 2018). OAPO tend to be
unmarried or divorced, with little familial or social support outside prison. They also fre-
quently have long histories of drug abuse, rehabilitation failure, poor health, and low eco-
nomic status (Aday, 2006; Western et al., 2015). Also, they may live in temporary or
marginal housing, with many of them unemployed prior to their arrest and between incar-
ceration periods (Godfrey et al., 2011). A recent series of studies following a large group of
individuals involved in crime from youth to old age has contributed valuable information
regarding OAPO. It suggests that these individuals are differentially susceptible to early
death and bear traits such as hyperactivity and low self-control that increase the likelihood
of poor life choices and accidents (Zane et al., 2019).
Often, persistent offending is linked to pro-crime attitudes and identity (Veysey & Rivera,
2017), criminal social ties (Browne, 2012), and engaging in antisocial conduct (Quillen,
2018). Some of the imprisonment, reentry, and rehabilitation experiences of OAPO do not
result in successful desistance due to the challenges they face (Wyse, 2018). Thus, it is
Avieli / WASTED LIVES 1549
likely that OAPO will either grow old in prison or be released to the community when they
reach old age (Higgins & Severson, 2009). When released, their community reentry needs,
such as housing and finances, are complicated by age-related physical and mental health
conditions (Maschi et al., 2013; Western et al., 2015). Given the complex set of biopsycho-
social and legal challenges associated with aging and the costs of their imprisonment, it is
evident that understanding desistance from crime and what it means for OAPO is critical
(Aday, 2003; Wyse, 2018).
desistaNce as a tRaNsfORmatiON aNd RecONstRuctiON Of NaRRative
Although desistance has been well researched for several decades, there is no clear agree-
ment on the definition and measurement of desistance from crime. Some of the more con-
servative perspectives see desistance as a permanent cessation of offending over several
years (Ezell & Cohen, 2005; Kazemian, 2010), while most contemporary views choose a
broader definition of desistance, accepting that some episodes of re-offending may occur
during a process in which individuals let go of life in crime (Bushway et al., 2001; King,
2013; Laub & Sampson, 2001). Indeed, up to date perspectives on desistance underscore
the intentional, self-initiated exertion of individuals striving for change as necessary for its
success (Bersani & Doherty, 2018).
One of the most researched internal factors connected to desistance involves changes
in the individual’s sense of self or identity (Mann et al., 2019). Studies have argued that
the reason people stop offending— or, at least, decide to stop offending—is because they
come to see themselves in a new light as individuals not involved in crime (Rocque,
2017). This idea follows the conceptual framework of narrative identity (McAdams,
2001). Narrative identity is the internalized and evolving story of the self that a person
constructs to make sense and meaning out of his or her life. The story is a selective recon-
struction of the autobiographical past and narrative anticipation of the imagined future
that explains, for the self and others, how the person came to be and where his or her life
is going (McAdams, 2011). Scholars of desistance argue that, unlike static factors such as
age, age of offending onset, and childhood trauma, there is evidence that narrative iden-
tity is subject to change (Stone, 2016). Maruna (2001) argues that individuals who ceased
from offending often adopt the identity of the “redemptive self.” He claims that desisters
who assume this identity tend to emphasize their innate goodness and possess a highly
agentic worldview (Healy, 2014; Maruna, 2001; Stone, 2016). Thus, carefully tailored
interventions may allow for reconstruction of the autobiographical past and imagination
of the future in a way that will provide a person’s life with some degree of unity, purpose,
and meaning (McAdams & McLean, 2013).
Desistance studies using narrative identity theory often focus on the ways social and
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