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Parole and Probation
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Parole and Probation
While it is ordinarily expected that persons convicted of committing crimes are sent to
jail for a specified period, this is not usually the case. There are cases where convicts do not
serve their full sentences or when they do not go to jail at all. This leads to the concepts of
parole and probation. In the course of handing down a sentence, a court may determine that a
convict may not serve any time in jail or only serve a small portion of the sentence. On the
other side, a parole is granted after a convict has served some portion of the sentence in jail
whereupon they get released before completing the term (Trotter, 2013). Since parole and
probation are granted under certain conditions, they may always be revoked when the
subjects do not adhere to the regulations. The concepts of parole and probation are contained
in the Holy Bible as it is recorded that “And besides all this, between us and you there is a
great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and
that none may cross over from there to us’ (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Luke
16:26).
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Probation-Period
While appreciating the differences inherent in probation and parole, there are certain
similarities that they share. One of these similarities is on their origin. Both probation and
parole originally developed as possible interventions to reduce the severity or harshness of
punishments. These were practices in the English and later on in American courts. In the
English courts, the judges had the powers to suspend sentences or vary them so that the
convicts served only a small portion of the time or served no time at all in jail. On the other
side, parole was attributed to the 19th century English and Irish leaders, Captain Alexander
Maconochie, Sir Walter Crofton, respectively, who were of the opinion that jail term should
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not be fixed but should be dependent on the level of rehabilitation of convicts (Labrecque,
2017).
There are several reasons for probation. One of the reasons for probation is restitution to the
victims. In some cases, the court may determine that a suspect is not jailed but instead they
pay their victims specific sums of money. The goals of this is to deliver justice to the victims
of crime. The second reason for probation is to allow the convicts to be rehabilitated,
especially when it is their first offence. The goals of this reason is to provide a second chance
to the offenders to change their behavior. Another reasons for probation is to give convicts an
opportunity to integrate into society and to get their lives back on track by giving them some
services that they may require. The final reason for probation is to allow convicts to get the
treatment that they may need. Some convicts may be so unwell that locking them up may
have adverse effects on them or even possibly lead to loss of their life.
There are three major types of parole today. They include discretionary, mandatory, and
expiatory paroles. A discretionary parole that maybe granted on the discretion of the parole
board. It can be denied or it can be granted. Mandatory parole is granted when prisoners hit
some time of their stay in the prison. The final type of parole is expiatory parole and it is
granted when a prisoner has completed a sentence and there were no ‘good days’ factored.
There are some conditions that are usually associated with paroles. One of them is to avoid
contact or communication with either victims or criminals. Additionally, they may be
required to maintain residence and employment. Moreover, the individuals may be required
to avoid substance abuse.
Community corrections have important roles to play in the correctional process and their
impact cannot be ignored. One of the impacts is that they help to reduce the burden on the
criminal justice system. Both parole and probation make sure that people only go to jail when
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it is unavoidable and when staying out of prison is likely to harm other member of society
(Schaefer & Brewer, 2022). It is important to note that keeping people in jail is very
expensive and a lot of resources will be expended on the same. Parole and Probation helps to
significantly lower the costs.
In conclusion, in the course of handing down a sentence, a court may determine that a convict
may not serve any time in jail or only serve a small portion of the sentence. On the other side,
a parole is granted after a convict has served some portion of the sentence in jail whereupon
they get released before completing the term. Both probation and parole originally developed
as possible interventions to reduce the severity or harshness of punishments. These were
practices in the English and later on in American courts.
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References
Trotter, C. (2013). Parole and probation. In What works with women offenders (pp. 143-160).
Willan.
Labrecque, R. M. (2017). Probation in the United States: A historical and modern
perspective. Routledge Handbook of Corrections in the United States, 155-164.
Schaefer, L., & Brewer, S. (2022). Probation and parole: From control to case management.
In Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States (pp. 275-290).
Springer, Cham.
English Standard Version Bible. (2001).
