Imagine being locked up for 20, 30, even 50 years. That concept may be difficult to visualize. But then imagine bring released from prison after all of that time. Maybe you can feel the panic and confusion older prisoners experience when they are set free. The dream of freedom is finally realized. But that dream can turn into a nightmare.
If someone has been locked up for decades there is a good chance that family members, or supportive friends, have died during that time. If not dead, they are most likely old and infirm, just like the ex-prisoner. Finding affordable and safe housing can be a bigger problem than for someone who is younger and still has family ties, a spouse or a girlfriend or boyfriend willing to provide a place to stay.
The job market is far different than 20 years ago. More jobs demand experience with computers and technology. A CURE article on July 10, 2010 relates how prisoners coming back to society after decades in prison are not computer savvy, and are used to writing a resume on a typewriter. Looking for a job years ago entailed going to a business in person, filing out a job application in pen, and speaking to someone from the employment department. Now, newly released prisoners who served a significant amount of time are befuddled about how to submit a job application on line. Being middle-aged or elderly is already a strike against them. Having a conviction adds yet another stigma, but not knowing how to use a computer is the third strike.
Socializing is an area that doesn’t receive much attention when it comes to the formerly incarcerated, but socializing plays a major role creating a stable environment in life. To be sure, social skills become rusty after serving even a few years in prison. Serving a huge chunk of one’s life incarcerated can make someone distrustful, secretive, an introvert and ignorant of modern attitudes and mores. Life is now faster and bolder. Connecting with people will be hard. Trying to connect via today’s social networking programs such as facebook will most likely never happen. Where does a 73 year old man locked up for 50 years look for a date? Will he even want one?
Returning to one’s community after decades of absence is a shock. Houses and businesses have disappeared along with old friends. Neighborhoods are often unrecognizable. Things that were once a staple in life are new and confusing. Gone are rotary dialed phones, replaced by tiny hand held devices that record, take photos, tell you how to get to a destination, and allow you to do several things that you are not sure you even need. Phone booths are becoming a thing of the past, and no longer cost a dime. Cars might as well be space ships with all the gadgets they now possess. Keyless starting, vista roofs, touchtone radios, navigation devices, heated seats, standard air-conditioning and a camera on the control panel, better known as the dashboard years ago, allow the driver to actually see what is behind him when backing up, and something called Blue Tooth allows you to use that tiny thing called a cell phone in your car…without your hands!
Loneliness, confusion and ill health are some of the problems people coming out of prison after many years in prison can experience. Those in the reentry field are now addressing these problems. Geriatric reentry has become an area that is just being developed, and recognition of this social phenomena is finally being recognized.
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