The incarcerated population that shows the lowest potential for recidivism are seniors and LWOPs who have “aged out” of crime and served twenty-five or more years. These facts are far from new. In 1919 it was described as a “law of nature” to “age out” of crime by the biological processes of growing older. In 1940, it was renamed “maturation reform,” describing how criminal impulse naturally declines with age. Seriously, 1919 and 1940? What has happened with prison rehabilitation in the last 105 years, and why is it lacking in the parole process? There is no reason not to make it a mandatory evaluation and to include LWOPs. There is every reason to make it the hallmark of the California Model.
In 1977, the concept of how people who have committed criminal offenses re-interpret their lives broke the surface through cognitive therapy. Yet, it was not used as a prime method of rehabilitation. It was not part of the prison program. Part of the delay in rehabilitation is because they didn’t put the “R” in CDCR until 2004. It has only been twenty years for the wheels of California’s mass incarceration machine to turn in a different direction.
Prisoners discovered the usefulness of these concepts years ago and they demonstrated it by rehabilitating themselves to the best of their ability. The ones that “aged out” and continued to use skills from self-help groups were able to reframe their thoughts and behaviors to live their best life. And yes, many did successfully parole.
It is mind-boggling how criminologists have allowed the concept of “aging out” and an offender’s ability to re-interpret their life of crime through new insight to slip by unnoticed for decades. Re-interpretation of criminal thinking through cognitive processing of causative factors fosters responsibility. The focus now is to understand criminal decision-making by examining the prisoner’s self-image. Aging in prison is the growing awareness of time combined with the use of rehabilitation tools. Aging is the precursor to desistance. Desistance from crime is the change in identity, self-concept, and the mindset used to judge oneself and others.
As a senior myself, incarcerated for thirty years and counting, I wonder why “aging out” isn’t a part of the California Model. Why are LWOPs and the aging population parked in the corner and not cognitively examined for release? Many prisoners continue to work towards re-interpretation of their lives through recovery and programs like they are paroling tomorrow. Seniors and LWOPs who have served twenty-five years or more should be the first to be considered for parole or a commutation for a parole-eligible sentence. We should be interviewed now. What is CDCR waiting for? We are not asking for a free pass. We are asking for a chance to show who we are today.
