1. 12
Research and the Future of Probation and Parole

2. Success or Failure?
Research in the behavioral sciences uses the experimental model
experimental group is exposed to an intervention
control group is not
powerful tool for determining program impact
difficult to implement, expensive, and requires time and expertise

3. Success or Failure?
In P/P research into the impact of supervision typically uses a quasi-experimental approach
In examining the degree to which P/P is successful, the results are often contradictory
Many studies indicate probation/parole did not cause a significant reduction in recidivism

4. What is Meant by Success?
Success is usually conceived of in terms of recidivism
Difficult to operationalize recidivism
No consistent definition
Selection complicates efforts to determine success (low-risk offenders are more likely to have higher rates of success)

5. What is Meant by Success?
Variables that correlate with success or failure on probation
Age
younger offenders have greater difficulty adhering to probation conditions
Employment
employed and financial stable do better

6. What is Meant by Success?
Variables that correlate with success or failure on probation
Marital status
married less likely to violate probation
Offense
those on probation for drug- and theft-related crimes have higher recidivism rates
High-risk offenders lessen the chance of success

7. What is Meant by Adequate Supervision?
Routine probation, by definition, is inappropriate for most felons
What is appropriate for most felons?
Combined model
Monitoring/control and social services
Unannounced home/employment visits
Checks for drug use
Attention to clients’ needs

8. What is Meant by Adequate Supervision?
Basic mechanism of P/P supervision is client contact
Quality of contact
Continuity of care
Interventions in prison, community, or community-based facilities should be compatible

9. Evidence-Based Practice
Community corrections agencies are implementing evidence-based practice:
Cost-efficient practice proven to reduce risk to the community
Rigorous quality assurance and evaluation to ensure effectiveness

10. Goals of Probation & Parole
If based on a social service model
Success is measured by the delivery of or referral to services, including education, training, employment, and counseling
Will be affected by variables beyond its control, such as variations in unemployment rate, poverty and collapse of the family

11. Goals of Probation & Parole
If based on a control model
Success is measured according to the agency’s ability to hold the offender accountable for his/her behavior
Close supervision may discover violations and/or new crimes

12. Goals of Probation & Parole
Different levels of law enforcement will produce different levels of official recidivism, regardless of P/P agency effectiveness
Effective control model agency will enhance the law enforcement function

13. Goals of Probation & Parole
Stanley points out that an offender can be unemployed and drunk but still a success as far as the system is concerned if he commits no crime

14. Goals of Probation & Parole
How are technical violations to be treated with respect to agency goals?
How long does the agency retain responsibility for success or failure of a client who has completed supervision?
Most difficult agency to evaluate in terms of success or failure is one based on a combined model

15. Goals of Probation & Parole
Most agencies in the U.S. are combined
Services and rehabilitation and control
Broad purposes - cannot fail, nor can it succeed
Too dependent on variables beyond agency control to evaluate effectively
Probation/parole exists for economic reasons

16. Goals of Probation & Parole
Probation officers are the first line of defense against prison overcrowding
More than 97% of all state prison inmates will be released
Who will make the release decision—judges, prison officials, or parole boards?

17. Goals of Probation & Parole
If no parole, we go from a rational controlled system of “earned” release for selected inmates to a system of automatic release for nearly all inmates
Discretionary release creates an incentive for inmates to engage in activities that prepare them for release
In the absence of parole, release planning may be absent or inadequate

18. Where Have We Been?
In 1977, indeterminate sentencing and parole were under great scrutiny
Later, about a dozen states adopted determinate sentencing and abolished parole
By the 21st century, most states had either abolished indeterminate sentencing or restricted the categories of offenders eligible for parole release

19. Where Have We Been? Determinate sentencing - a turn to classicalism
But restricting use of indeterminate sentence and parole cannot respond to prison overcrowding
In Georgia, violent offenders serve a minimum of 90% of sentence
In New York, violent offenders are not eligible for parole

20. Where Have We Been? These policies led to corrections overload:
Forced releases
Criminal justice systems increased their use of probation
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)
Truth-in-sentencing
offenders serve at least 85% of sentence

21. Where Are We Now? Control model became predominant
Corrections was displaced by the buzzwords of a new era – intermediate sanctions
Decreases in the crime rate, but still prison overcrowding
Get tough legislation
Special good time provisions

22. Where Are We Going?
Research shows that supervision providing treatment and not just control has significantly greater rates of success
Probation and parole agencies can offer field services in their client’s neighborhoods

23. Where Are We Going?
An array of intermediate sanctions ranging from intensive supervision with electronic monitoring, to short-term detention

24. Justice Reinvestment Second Chance Act (2008)
Promote and support programs that reduce recidivism
Provides funding for research to improve the effectiveness of release and revocation decisions
Designed to deal with high cost of imprisonment and shortage of money

25. Justice Reinvestment Proactive Community Supervision (PCS)
System of community supervision focusing on treatment and rehabilitation
Emphasis on the quality of the relationship between P/P agents and clients
Reduced caseloads for high-risk offenders
Use of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised

26. Key Terms Classicalism Combined model Control model Felony probation
Success
Social casework
Split sentences
Indeterminate sentence

27. Key Terms Intermediate sanctions Social services model
Determinate sentence
Recidivism