A Day in the Life: How Time is Spent Doing Time among Older Inmates

Based on an interview study with 67 male inmates, aged 55 and above, at a medium security facility, the most common activities in reports on daily life were exercise, employment, and program participation. Respondents were considerably less active in these areas than older adults living in the community. Quantitative analysis showed that higher levels of involvement in activity were not correlated with enhanced health nor greater sociability. Inmates subjectively confirmed that tangible benefits from activity were lacking, reflected in their perceptions of insurmountable barriers to participation, constraints on initiative to pursue activity, and skepticism that participation would yield desirable outcomes.