Book review 3: Aging Behind Prison Walls: Studies in Trauma and Resilience; Journal of Gerontological Social Work

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Journal of Gerontological Social Work
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Book Review: Aging Behind Prison Walls: Studies in
Trauma and Resilience
by Tina Maschi and Keith Morgen
Karen Bullock
To cite this article: Karen Bullock (2021): Book Review: Aging Behind Prison Walls:
Studies in Trauma and Resilience, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, DOI:
10.1080/01634372.2021.1900480
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2021.1900480
Published online: 18 Mar 2021.
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2. BOOK REVIEW
Aging Behind Prison Walls: Studies in Trauma and Resilience, by Tina Maschi
and Keith Morgen Columbia University Press,/New York, NY/ page number 296/
ISBN 10-0231182597
In Aging Behind Prison Walls, Tina Maschi and Keith Morgen offer evidence-based
knowledge and compassionate analysis of the lives of incarcerated older people. These
research scholars take a strength-approach to exploring resiliencies and coping strategies
used by adults of older age to make meaning of their lives before, during, and after
incarceration. The book incorporates a mixed-methods approach of extensive quantitative
and qualitative research, in addition to utilizing national datasets to examine this caring
justice issue of humanity. This book features excavation of narrative case studies that
illuminate stories of trauma, strength, coping, and well-being.
Maschi and Morgen do a brilliant job of mining data to appropriately center the
experiences of persons imprisoned over extended periods of time and to present
a solution-focused caring-justice framework in order to understand, explain, transform
and humanize the individuals, all while examining the factor that may facilitate or hinder
the one’s aging in place, when that place is behind prison wall. The community-level,
structural factors considered in this scholarship of human rights are put forth in ways that
create awareness of multi-faceted experiences aging persons in a contained crisis of life
behind bars. The authors tackle the problem of humanizing a rapidly growing population
of older, infirmed persons who are dying in isolation with special needs, without loved
ones at their bedsides or holding their hands. With care and compassion, the authors
describe the steps that trained staff could take to provide specialized care, but are often are
not available to offer due to the lack of emphasis on the long-term care needs of person
who spend many years incarcerated.
Behind Prison Walls is one of the best explorations of trauma and resilience focused on
a population that many would argue has been forgotten. The authors present factual data
on the prevalence and incidence of incarceration among persons of older age. With more
than 200,000 men and women over age 50 living behind prison walls in the United States
today, it has been projected that by 2030, one-third of all incarcerated individuals will be
over the age of 60. These data are alarming and disheartening, with already overcrowded
and underserved prison system with staff that report being over worked, underpaid and
strained to manage the needs of incarcerated persons of older age, who often quickly
decline in health status while they age with frailty and poorly managed health concerns.
The lack of social support from families and community engagement contributes to their
demise. Furthermore, despite a low risk of recidivism, incarcerated older persons raise
particular social-justice issues that those who are not incarcerated do not have to face nor
figure out how to live with, or live without. The life experiences of long term incarcerated
persons require special attention, which these authors so passionately highlight for the
readers.
These discussions are well organized throughout the book and cogently presented, with
no shortage of data to support the supposition and arguments made to bring about a social
justice perspective and appeal for dignity and self-preservation among populations of
incarcerated individuals. The solution-focused caring-justice framework in order to
understand and transform the individual- and community-level structural factors that
JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORK

3. have led to and perpetuate the aging-in-prison crisis. They offer concrete suggestions and
recommendation – at the community and national policy levels – to address the pressing
issues of incarcerated older persons.
It is evident that a high level of critical thinking was engaged by the authors to make
this literary exposit one which lay out the problems faced by the older generation,
especially those person of color who are often the majority in many criminal justice
systems across the U.S. It does not make sense to refer to them as “minorities” when the
data clearly show that persons of Black and Brown race are the dominant group among
older adults living behind prison walls. Many have experienced a lifetime of systemic
racism that lead to disadvantages early in life, including untreated health and mental
health issues, social isolation, oppression (e.g., ageism, sexism, oppression and alienation),
layers of family stress, lack of access to quality education and community services, and
discrimination and structural institutional policy barriers. These cumulative racist actions
can be directly linked to significantly aggravated trauma that can lead to; and be the
product of prolonged incarceration.
The most effective tool used by the authors in this very seminal work that centers
a group of vulnerable people that are often left out of the aging and gerontology literature
are the qualitative and quantitative data that confirm and validate the existence of these
human beings and reframes structural inequities that are perpetuated across color lines,
behind bars. Their stories of life as incarcerated older adults shared in the narratives of
their own voices speak to their vulnerability and the strength individually and collectively.
These stories are also about resilience, self-empowerment, wisdom, and personal growth.
Their personal stories describe how individuals are surviving and even thriving despite the
stressful conditions of physical confinement.
The purpose of the book is very clearly described and the authors follow through on
what is promised in terms of the caring justice perspective being used to transcend
dualistic thinking and emphasize a relational/collectivist approach in which individuals
and communities are also responsible and accountable for public safety outcomes. This
perspective create possibility for the reader to reimaging the plight of incarcerated persons
and use their intuition for the purpose of creativity and collaboration, as the authors
suggest leading communities to find innovative ways to respond to age and justice issues.
This book introduces a new age of caring justice which has the promise of freeing
individuals and the collective thought movement for considering an alternative
approaches to the current overemphasis on relentless retribution and cruel punishment
for crime and wrongdoing. Moreover, it compels readers to consider older adults across
various cultural groups and lived experiences as being worthy of society care and protec­
tion in meaningful ways. After all the Older Americans Act of 1965 was premised upon
a similar presupposition that society was and is responsible for the care of the aged. Lest we
not forget those who whether guilty or innocent of wrong-doing and many behind bars
have never been proven guilty of any crime. A caring justice perspective replaces cruel and
unusual punishment with mercy, compassion, unconditional love, transparency (truth),
and accountability. With social justice as a core value of the social work profession,
a movement toward this new paradigm of caring justice would only serve to augment
what many of us are already committed to being and doing, but not always how to get
there, the old paradigm will die a good death as these authors submit. The construction of
a caring justice consciousness will guide criminal justice reform and social workers to
work toward dismantling human-made public safety disasters, such as those that currently
exist in our prison systems across the United States. Caring justice reforms aligns with the
social work social justice commitment for all people to live an optimal quality of life, until
the end. When we consider providing emergency assistance to older, sick, and those who
2 BOOK REVIEW

4. are dying daily, behind prison walls, the author’s caring justice framework moves our
profession closer to doing what is the humanitarian thing to do for folks who cannot easily
nor frequently engage with their family members and communities. This is a fresh new
approach to caring and compassion that the social work profession has long been at the
forefront of modeling and advancing to meet the needs of who are well and those who are
limited in the access to resources and equitable treatment. With this new and innovative
approach to care for persons of vulnerable populations behind prison walls, no areas for
improvement on this topic were identified at this time
This book is well suited for the social sciences, theologians, practitioners in medicine
and behavior health, therapist and educators across disciplines. As Maschi and Morgen so
clearly articulate, interdisciplinary fields of practice have proven to be more effective than
fragmented, singular focused approached to combatting psychosocial, environmental,
human-rights issues.
Throughout history and across cultures and disciplines, justice has been associated with
truth, rationality, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, ethics, fairness, equity/equality,
and religion. These authors remind us that the polar opposites include injustice, chaos,
violence, immorality, disparities, inequalities, and evil doing (negative energy, behavior
and outcomes). During the rise of industrialization in the early twentieth century, the
social aspects of justice and equality were paramount. Now during the COVID-19 pan­
demic, many would argue that these are of the utmost importance yet again. The historical
legacy of systemic racism and oppression concealed, for many, the need to address health
inequities, including those for persons behind prison walls. The pursuit of social and
distributive justice was advanced in philosophy, theology, and religion. Now in 2021, we
are grabbling with how to close the gaps in health disparities, the treatment of Black and
Brown people who have been historically discriminated against and oppressed. It is time
we look behind the walls of prisons and extend justice to those person who are most likely
to die while incarcerated. A care justice model is desperately need in the study and
application of the law, procedural justice entailed an effort to understand the processes
and outcomes, and to improve the legal mechanisms that could ensure equity and fairness
in healthcare and quality of life, including for those who are incarcerated.
No weakness was identified. This book is unique and innovative in this proposed caring
justice framework for social work practice, research and policy development. It parallels
no other that I am aware of in contemporary times.
Dr Tina Maschi is an expert in the areas of human-rights, social justice, criminal justice,
forensic social work, and compassionate public safety. She is one of the most renowned
research scholars, across disciplines that has been doing this work, objectively supported by
data and with framework of dignity and self-worth for those individuals and groups of
people who may be formerly incarcerated or currently behind prison walls. She is an
interdisciplinary scholar who writes from a place of care and compassion for some of the
most vulnerable and oppressed populations of people in our society. As a Black research
scholar who is always searching for objective destigmatizing literature on the experiences of
marginalized groups, I am incredibly impressed by the remarkable skill of humanizing and
celebrating the strengths and resiliency of persons living behind prison walls in older age,
while emphasizing the need to take special care of this population, in the way that these
authors have done in the book, which I recommend for all social work research scholars.
JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORK 3

5. Conclusion
This is a brilliant piece of work. These authors show their skill in humanizing all people
through a caring justice model of practice. It is important to reframe social work models
that ethics and racial justice. What these paradigms have revealed for us, as social workers,
during the COVID-19 is that we need to reframe and redirect our efforts and energies
toward an equitable caring justice model of social work practice.
I would recommend this book for all classes that focus on older adults and that have
social justice continue to help students to understand that it is critically important to
humanize people and find their strengths even then the larger society may see them as
unworthy of dignity and respect. I would argue, this what is at the core of a social justice
agenda in social work practice.
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/aging-behind-prison-walls/9780231182591
Manuscript submissionMedia review manuscripts are primarily solicited by the editorial
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Dr Nancy Kusmaul, Media Review Editor, at nkusmaul@umbc.edu to inquire about
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tion guidelines.
Karen Bullock
School of Social Work, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
kbulloc2@ncsu.edu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2188-8542
© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2021.1900480
4 BOOK REVIEW