The justice ministry reckons some 14% of inmates over the age of 60 have symptoms of dementia
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskFuchu is one of a handful of prisons trying out rehabilitation programmes aimed at maintaining older inmates’ physical and mental health. The puzzles and games are designed to curb the development of dementia in their participants. Authorities are wary because Japan’s prisoners, like the rest of its population, are getting older.
Traditionally, Japan’s prisons have been highly punitive. Inmates atone for their crimes through forced labour. Talking is banned during much of the day; recreational activities such as reading are allowed only at allotted times. Inmates live “like robots”, says Hamai Koichi, a former justice-ministry official, now a criminologist at Ryukoku University in Kyoto.
Growing numbers of aged inmates had already pushed prisons to become a bit more considerate, informally at least. Older inmates struggle to keep up with tasks, so prisons reduced their workloads. Social workers and carers were brought in to supplement guards. Many prisons have put in handrails. Some serve puréed food for those with trouble chewing. “As prisons started to look more like nursing homes, government officials began questioning their approach,” says Mr Hamai.
The government has avoided deeper reform. It has not considered relaxing sentencing guidelines in such a way as to limit elderly incarceration, or considered offering an amnesty to older inmates. Most crimes committed by older people in Japan are petty, such as theft and shoplifting. They are often driven by poverty and loneliness. But repeated misdemeanours can still land offenders behind bars for years.
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