Abstract

Western industrialized countries are experiencing an increase in the portion of their populations which are 65 and older. One result of this demographic shift, which is still occurring, is the increasing number of individuals in prisons and jails who are older adults. In Canada, up to 25 % of the federal prison population is considered older. Current studies focus on prison infrastructures and routines which are inadequate for older adults, with many authors suggesting that community placements are more appropriate for this population. Studies on prisoner re-entry focus on the success and use of programs for employment and substance use disorders.
This study focuses on an understudied group: older adults under carceral supervision who are provided reintegration services in the community. Grounded in the social construction of target populations framework – alongside NGO research on social constructions, advocacy and resource dependency – this project asks: in a context of the devolution of reintegration policy, what explains how re-entry NGOs act to broaden the bounds of reintegration for older adults? This research uses a four-case comparison of NGOs in Montréal, Toronto, San Francisco and Houston to assess how social constructions of older adults, combined with NGOs’ strategic action through advocacy and resource diversification impacts the bounds of reintegration policy. Newspaper thematic analysis, statistical analysis of funding streams and semi-structured interviews were conducted to compare reintegration services across NGOs. Compared to the two American NGOs, Canadian NGOs provided a greater number and range of services although there was important similarity between the Toronto and San Francisco cases. Within countries the more liberal-leaning cities, with the higher frequency of positive portrayals of aging were associated with more generous bounds of reintegration policy. The findings of this project highlight the importance of considering NGO service providers as agentic rather than passive recipients of correctional department funding. NGOs deploy social constructions, strategic funding searches and advocate to achieve their organizational goals.