ABSTRACT
Information pertaining to mature or elderly men incarcerated in county jails is limited. There is even less information on mature offenders who are mentally ill. This is a descriptive study of mature mentally ill male offenders incarcerated in five California county jails. Although mature offenders presently represent a small proportion of the incarcerated population their numbers are increasing. Mature offenders may evince disruptive or self-destructive behaviors assumed to be associated with mental illness. Creating a profile of mature mentally ill offenders is a difficult task since one must consider: variable age cut off and differences in demographics among jail and prison populations. The mature offenders in the California jails were single, with a mean educational level of 10.22 years, the majority were white, nearly a quarter had been arrested for drunk driving, most were employed at the time of arrest and an overwhelming majority were recidivists.
