Abstract
This paper discuses the meaning of parole in the context of criminal justice. In addition, the paper explores the origin of the parole system and it main intentions during its establishment in the United States Elmira Reformatory in New York City. Furthermore, the paper explores the participants of a parole decision and the role of each as well as the data collection methods used in collection of data pertaining the eligibility of prisoners for parole.
Criminal Justice: Parole
Generally, the term criminal justice refers to the sequence of steps involved in the investigation of criminal demeanor where confirmation is gathered, the criminals or suspects are arrested, issuing of charges or trials are conducted, defenses are made and after, the crime is proved, the judgments is pronounced, and punishment carried out. Justice refers to evenhandedness in trial and fair vengeance for the sufferers of the crime. The criminal justice system involves all the actions and groups that partake in the impediment, suit and defense of offenses, the nature of lawbreaker under criminal law and the nature of treatment of juveniles associated to certain crimes, which if committed by adults would be rendered as a crime.. These groups are the states or concealed, home or public agencies.
Those involved in the criminal justice system include the police, defense attorneys, public prosecutors, courts, mental health agencies, correction systems and crime victims as well as all those agencies partaking in the services provision. There are three confusing branches of criminal justice and this are the parole, mandatory supervision, probation. In probation the convicted serve prosecution outside prison but with more rigid obligations while parole involves the service of the last part of imprisonment outside prison. The other closest program is the mandatory supervision where the justice system of the offender is obliged by legal procedures to release the offenders’ immediately. This paper intends to define parole, its purpose and objectives, its participants, data collection methodologies used and their goals.
Definition of Parole in criminal justice context and problem statement
According to Worth (2001), the first parole system in the United States of America began in the course of the last fraction of the nineteenth century at Elmira Reformatory in upstate New York. It was an incentive for inmates by superintendent, Zebulon Brockway and his workforce, for the observed reforming trends in the lives of those inmates by first increasing their amounts of freedom until finally they were released on parole. Before arriving at the decision to parole a prisoner, an investigation was made on their good conduct, education participation and job training programs, and their possibility of finding a job outside the penal colony which provided the green light for release. In addition to the release, the parolee was expected to check into Elmira once in every month in the company of a member of the reformatory personnel.
With time, the parole practice spread across all prisons in the United States and it was made available to all prisoners and by the year 1922, nearly all the prisons operated the parole system (Worth 2001). In line with the parole system in prisons, the undetermined sentencing was introduced and the prisoners went to prison without the prior knowledge of their length of a sentence and instead, the judge at the court announced the convict’s minimum and maximum time they were to spend in prison. These limits gave the prisoner the will to determine their actual period behind bars by their behavior in prison. For instance, prisoners with observable good or improved conducts would be given days off from their duties and this served to motivate and instill need for change in prisoners. By this, the prisoners reduced their time in prison and prison personnel gained as the inmates tended to be much more corporative.
Participants
As stated by Worth (2001), the participants in the decision on whether to grant a parole or not included the state, parole boards, whose main work was regular review of the prisoner’s performance and determine their eligibility. The parole board was appointed by the governor and consisted of professionals involved in correction and people from all other disciplines. Other important participants were the parole officers whose main duty was to prepare the reports on board hearings.
Methodologies
The main data collection methodologies are participation and observation and survey by parole board.In participation, the parolee has the responsibility of ensuring they demonstrate a positive change in behavior while serving their sentence in prison. This is important as it grants them off days from routine prison work and duties assigned. In addition, it increases their chance of being eligible for a parole by the parole board (Worth 2001). Observation has the prison personnel observe and note the prisoners’ behavior and recommend them for change.
In survey, the parole board sends representatives to the prisons and questionnaires are answered by prison personnel about the noted positive behaviors in prisoners. The goal of these data collections methods is to summarize, compare and generally estimate the overall change in behavior by prisoners and makes the proposed ones eligible for parole to serve the rest of their sentences outside prisons but with few conditions.
The basic parole board procedures include: first, the application for parole by eligible prisoner, information about the prisoner is provided by entrusting court, hearings are staged at the reformatory institutions, disposition is checked and prisoner agrees to parole conditions and the periodic supervision reports (Hoffman 2003).
References
Hoffman P. B. (2003). History of the Federal Parole System. William S. Hein & Co., Inc. United States of America. P. 12.
Worth R., (2001). Probation and Parole. Chelsea House Publisher. New York. NY. P. 41-6.
