This volume of the JPP looks at the aging process inside prisons, where
every problem is amplifi ed by the prisoner’s age. From the changing
nature of dreams, valiant attempts to forestall mental decline, and thwarted
attempts to access education, to the pain of watching children grow up
without them, and the impossibility of adequate care in their declining
years, prisoners share the desperation of growing old behind bars.
Even in the stultifying environment of prison, however, personal
growth can and does fl ourish and prisoners can contribute in many ways.
Is the person who committed a crime in 1965 or 1985 still the same person
in 2005? The resilience of the human spirit and the power of time, even
in the absence of any other encouragement towards rehabilitation, have
proven themselves over and over again. But even “model prisoners” are
permanently held suspect. What kind of justice system have we constructed
when even professed Christians no longer believe in redemption and
forgiveness? “Godot never arrived, and Vladimir and Estragon only grew
older while they waited.”