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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Heaven or hell?
— aging behind bars in Israel | | Author(s) | Israel Doron |
| Journal title | Hallym International Journal of Aging, vol 9, no 2, 2007 |
| Pages | pp 145-160 |
| Source | http://baywood.com |
| Keywords | Prisoners ; Qualitative Studies ; Israel. |
| Annotation | Prison populations in many Western countries are growing old, a trend which is expected to become more pronounced in the coming years. This qualitative study aimed to better understand the experiences of older independent prisoners held in a separate special wing in Ma'asiyahu Prison in Israel. The research involved a maximum-variation sample of 12 of the older prisoners in the wing, who were interviewed in depth. Previous studies have tended to describe the experience of older prisoners in terms of extremes, viewing prison as either a "heaven" of "hell" for such prisoners. However, this study found that the older prisoners actually viewed incarceration as a mixture of both extremes, with misery and suffering being coupled with a sense of safety and comfort. This complex and contradictory viewpoint can be explained by considering two central points, which are discussed in depth. The first is that the separate older prisoners' wing of Ma'asiyahu Prison acted as "a city of refuge" (protecting as well as confirming prisoners). The second is that the prisoners there were socially and psychologically "mature". (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080911210 A |
| Classmark | TGF: 3DP: 7H6 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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