Lifer

Lifer Characteristics

In the United States, approximately 65,000 people are serving life sentences. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confines slightly more than 5,000 inmates serving a life sentence. Lifers comprise approximately 3.3% of the federal inmate population.

Previously, lifers were the criminals that society portrayed as being the most dangerous and harmful. They were violent criminals, usually murderers. They were most commonly men in their 20s and 30s who had committed serious and violent crimes such as murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping. Female lifers were primarily involved in domestic homicides or as accomplices. Due to changes in sentencing policies in the United States, lifers in the federal system and many states are now composed of both violent and habitual offenders as well as violent criminals. In fiscal year 2001, criminal defendant sentenced in U.S. district courts to a term of life were predominantly drug traffickers. Violent felony offenders in that year comprised only 40% of those sentenced to life in prison. Ninety-six percent of the lifer population is male, and 4% is female. African Americans comprise 46% of those sentenced to life in prison, while whites comprise 38%, Hispanics 14%, and 2% are other races.

Lifers differ from “short termers” in many social and psychological ways. Unlike prisoners serving short-term sentences whose families often stand by to support them during their incarceration, lifers' networks of friends and families often disappear as the years go on. Psychological stresses arise during long-term incarceration. Lifers often try to focus on getting through their time by ending personal relationships on the outside, reasoning that their time will be more difficult to serve if they have to worry constantly about their loved ones on the outside. Lifers who stay in touch with their friends and family may develop anxiety and depression due to the lack of control they feel by not being able to be a part of, or intervene in, their loved ones' lives. Perhaps as a result, they are overrepresented as victims of suicide and homicide when compared to the general prison population.

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