Internal and External Stakeholders

Internal and External Stakeholders

In the context of increasing agitation for protection of human rights of women, youth, physically challenged, and special groups in society, the role of internal and external stakeholders in a special group of elderly inmates is emerging as an area of great concern. Elderly inmates are a special group of people for two reasons: first of all, because they are prisoners, and secondly, because they are elderly and, therefore, dependent on support from others. However, much victimization and negligence on the part of the concerned departments continue to be reported. It is not unusual to hear cases of elderly inmates’ abuse by the management of the correctional institutions or the young inmates. Elderly inmates continue to face challenges in terms of accommodation, healthcare, and safety from the young inmates. This is because of their weakling status, which render them vulnerable and more exposed to these challenges. This paper discusses the influence of internal and external stakeholders on the welfare of elderly inmates. It also proposes a way of bringing these stakeholders to positively impact the welfare of elderly inmates.

According to O’Brien (2006), corrective institutions across the world are increasingly facing mounting pressure to review their policies on how to deal with elderly inmates. Elderly inmates represent a special group of people in the society in terms of their welfare. The classification of elderly as starting from 50 years by many corrective institutions raises the question of treatment and care accorded to them. Different stakeholders in corrective institutions have a big role to play in ensuring that elderly inmates’ welfare in terms of accommodation, health, and safety. The continued stay of young inmates with the elderly in the same corrective institution poses a threat of harassment or mistreatment of the elderly inmates. This has served as a wakeup call for internal and external stakeholders to intervene in safeguarding the interests of elderly inmates.

To this extend, O’Brien (2006) notes that internal and external stakeholders have played a role, though not sufficient, to improve the life of elderly inmates and make them have a sigh of relief. Management of corrective institutions has engaged their governments to provide separate facilities to cater for the elderly besides reviewing existing laws on elderly inmates. On the other hand, external stakeholders continue to agitate for greater observance of human rights to elderly inmates. This is baring some fruits as their contributions have elicited concern from the management of corrective institutions. However, according to O’Brien (2006), there remains much to be done so far the welfare of elderly inmates is concerned.

The Influence of Internal and External Stakeholders

Elderly inmates pose a challenge to corrective institutions management because of their need for special treatment. It is estimated that it costs 3 times more to care for an elderly inmate than a young inmate (Frolik, 2000).  This is because elderly inmates are easily exposed to conditions such as limited space for accommodation, insufficient medical attention as well as bullying and harassment from young inmates in prisons. This can escalate their status quickly. Similarly, Frolik (2000) notes that the fact that elderly inmates like any other human beings are susceptible to aging and terminal illnesses and incapacitation further aggravates their conditions while in prison and, thus, places an extra burden on the management of these institutions. Moreover, O’Brien (2006) argues that it is inescapable that corrective institutions continue to witness increasing numbers of elderly inmates who are either incapacitated or exposed to violation of their human rights.

Being aware of these factors, Frolik (2000) indicates that internal stakeholders have embarked on providing an environment to cater for the needs of elderly inmates. For instance, emphasis is now put on the design of modern corrective institutions that can allow use of wheelchairs for physically challenged inmates or those with marked route for escape in case of an emergency like fire. Similarly, internal stakeholders contribute to welfare of the elderly by insisting that the government provides specialized caregivers to elderly inmates.

As a result, elderly inmates are attended to by caregivers who are well informed about their needs. It is also common nowadays to reevaluate the sentence for elderly inmates with special conditions like terminal illnesses or dementia as alternative forms of punishment are sought for such inmates. Additionally, educational approach to young inmates helps in reducing cases of harassment and bullying of elderly inmates, hence improving their safety while in prison.

On the other hand, external stakeholders continue to participate in the care of elderly inmates by providing mechanisms that enhance the social, economic, and cultural wellbeing of prisoners. For instance, different governments have amended their corrective institutions rules to encourage lenient treatment of elderly inmates. Thus, elderly inmates who show improvement in their social behavior are released to participate in the community activities under community supervision (Frolik, 2000). Moreover, O’Brien (2006) notes that contributions by the external stakeholder through provision of finances to meet the needs of the elderly inmates have also increased.

Equally important in enhancing the welfare of elderly inmates are human rights organizations that are encouraging governments to review the costs of imprisonment versus community work for elderly inmates. Similarly, their argument for release of elderly inmates who are facing an imminent death due to age continues to attract attention from corrective institutions.

How to Bring Stakeholders in the Solution

Imprisonment of an increasing number of elderly inmates is costly to governments. Most of the elderly inmates are people who have served a considerable amount of time in prison and their general behaviors are tolerable to the society. However, the challenge has been posed by the families aggrieved by the inmates, who insist on the completion of jail term by prisoners irrespective of their current situations. Many governments across the globe have done already a lot, including probation and community work to try to bring elderly inmates into the society. This can only start by providing education to the society on why it is important to care for elderly inmates in a lesser punitive manner.

Through education of all stakeholders, it is possible to provide a decent healthcare, accommodation, and safety to elderly inmates whether inside the walls of prison or in community.  Motivation of stakeholders is to provide sufficient information on the rights of elderly inmates and the need to provide them with better services

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that increasing number of elderly inmates is a global trend that stakeholders have to face. The number provides a challenge to available resources for the care of elderly. Healthcare, accommodation, and safety issues continue to attract attention from stakeholders concerned with care of elderly inmates. However, considerable efforts have been made so far the care of the elderly inmates is concerned. What remains to be done is to provide information to the society on the need of improvement of services offered to the elderly inmates.