PAROLE & INMATE BEHAVIOR

Parole & Inmate Behavior

Parole & Inmate Behavior

Parole and Victims

Probation and parole are responsible for the supervision of more than 5 million adult offenders in the United States. As the most common disposition in the United States for felony convictions, probation is a sentence in lieu of incarceration that monitors people under conditions of release. The two types of probation conditions are mandatory and special. Mandatory conditions are defined by state or federal statutes and apply to every individual sentenced to probation. These conditions generally include not owning or carrying a weapon, reporting to a probation officer on a schedule that is determined by the officer at intake, leaving a jurisdiction only with the judge's knowledge and approval, allowing unannounced home visits by the officer, and remaining free of arrests during the probation period. Special conditions are imposed by the judge during sentencing and apply to the particular circumstances of the case. They can include participation in treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, the payment of fines, the obtaining of mental health services, and earning a General Equivalency Diploma.

Parole is not a sentence; rather, it is the extension of a prison into the community and under the supervision of the parole authority, which is a branch of the prison system. Prisoners are eligible for parole after they have served a minimum number of years of their sentence as dictated by state statutes and the discretion of the judge. A parole board reviews their crimes, their criminal histories, and their behaviors in prison to decide whether the prisoners can be supervised safely in the community. After serving only a portion of their sentence, prisoners can also be released automatically by the prison administration for good behavior, which involves observing prison rules. In a common formula, prisoners are given 1 day off of the sentence for every day of good behavior. The conditions of parole supervision are set by the releasing body and are similar to the mandatory and special conditions of probation supervision (Marbley and Ferguson, 2001).

Sentencing, Parole, and Prisoner Reentry

During the 1960s and early 1970s, indeterminate sentencing (sentencing that does not have defined parameters) was used in conjunction with parole to give the parole board the responsibility of deciding if and when an individual was ready to successfully reenter society and the responsibility of maintaining supervision of the individual, while also helping him or her to reintegrate into the community. During this time, 72% of all released inmates were placed on parole. Currently, only 30% of eligible prisoners are released on parole. Over the past 2 decades, criminal justice policy, fueled by the “get tough” and “nothing works” philosophies, have increasingly turned to determinate sentencing (clearly defined sentences) and truth in sentencing (the move toward having offenders serve at least 85% of their sentences) policies that increase prison sentences and limit the use of parole (again, negatively and disproportionately affecting racial minorities).

Second, abolishing parole boards results in extended prison stays for offenders and in a lack of ...