NCJ Number
63267
Journal
Contemporary Crises Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (OCTOBER 1979) Pages: 419-439
Date Published
1979
Length
17 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE PROCESS THAT CREATED THE NEW U.S. BOARD OF PAROLE BY ANALYZING THE EFFECT OF POLITICAL INFLUENCES ON SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN THE AREA OF PAROLE DECISIONMAKING.
Abstract
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY (NCCD) RESEARCH CENTER, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE U.S. BOARD OF PAROLE, CONDUCTED A STUDY TO SUMMARIZE AND ANALYZE PAST PAROLING PRACTICE AND, FINALLY, TO MAKE IMPLICIT POLICIES EXPLICIT AND STRUCTURE PAROLE BOARD DISCRETION INTO UNIFORM AND CONSISTENT POLICY. AFTER DATA WERE COLLECTED, GUIDELINES FOR PAROLE DECISIONS WERE CREATED, CONSISTING OF THREE MAJOR ELEMENTS: (1) A SCALE OF OFFENSE SEVERITY (2) A SCORE ON A SCALE OF NINE FACTORS TO INDICATE 'PAROLE PROGNOSIS,' AND (3) A RANGE OF TIME TO BE SERVED. HOWEVER, SUCH CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH HAS ONLY SERVED TO LEGITIMATE EXISTING PRACTICES AND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO IDEOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL HEGEMONY. THE PAROLE PREVENTION ELEMENT ONLY USES NARROW SUCCESS-FAILURE PREDICTION TECHNIQUES, DISREGARDS MANY QUALITATIVE ELEMENTS SURROUNDING 'SUCCESS' ON PAROLE, AND EXHIBITS A HIGH INCIDENCE OF 'FALSE POSITIVES.' THE OFFENSE SCALE INVOLVES PROBLEMS OF SUBJECTIVITY, CLASS NORMS, AND ADHERENCE TO THE VIEWS OF PAROLE BOARD MEMBERS. MOREOVER, THE AMOUNT OF TIME TO BE SERVED APPEARS UNRELATED TO LATER SUCCESS OR RECIDIVISM RATES. RETRIBUTION RATHER THAN REHABILITATION, THEREFORE, BECOMES THE REASON FOR IMPRISONMENT. NCDD IS ALSO CRITICIZED FOR IGNORING THE OFFENSES OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS OR ELITES AND PRISONER MANIPULATION, OBSCURING RELATIONSHIPS OF POWER, ASSUMING A CONSENSUS MODEL OF SOCIAL ORDER, AND PRESERVING THE STATUS QUO (I.E., THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SYSTEM OF CAPITALISM). TWO APPENDIXES AND NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (AOP)