powerpoint

1. 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

2. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

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

4. Myth Shattered
WE 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

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

6. What the research says
• Multimodal learning
• Adding visual to text
• Visuals matter
• Encourage interaction

8. California Institution for Women

9. Facts and Figures
• In Californa, 7,550 persons
over the age of 55
• By 2022, more than 30,000
• $70,000 annual cost

10. Transporting inmates *

11. 82 years old – inmate with
renal failure- $400,000 per year*

12. Confinement of Older Women
• Number of geriatric
female inmates has
increased 350% in the
past decade
• Unique set of health
and safety issues

13. Daily Life Challenges
• Eating
• Sleeping
• Walking/standing
• Bathing
• Getting in/out of bed
• “Drop Alarms”
• Hearing Loss

14. Prison is a place…where you learn that nobody
needs you and that the outside world goes on
without you.

15. Aging Female Inmate Issues
• Menopause
• Bone Density
• Incontinence
• Pain (i.e. arthritis)

16. Issues of women 55+ cont.
• Chronic Illness/Morbidity
• Depression/Anxiety
• External locus of control
• Change in family relationships
• Isolation

17. The Unmet Need
• Vulnerable population
within corrections
• Mental illness is rampant

18. THE GOLDEN GIRLS
Photos courtesy of Ron Levine

19. Golden Girls in the “cat program”

20. Golden Girl: Helen
• Born in Los Angeles
• Age: 66
• Lifer

21. 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…”

22. 22
“ 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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23. “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

24. “The older you are, the less they care…”
Dee M.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 27
“ 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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28. A Qualitative Investigation of Trauma and Stress, Coping
Resources, and Well-Being among Older Adults in Prison
Dr. Tina Maschi, PH.D.

29. Interpersonal: Staff
“harassment from officers”
“being picked on for petty things”
“being punished for other people’s
actions
“male guard feeling on body”

30. 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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34. 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”

35. 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”

36. 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.”

37. 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”

38. 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”

39. 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.”

40. Ron’s section

41. Exercise