Using the data from the landmark Bureau of Justice Statistics recidivism study, Urban Institute researchers compared prisoners released to parole supervision with those released without supervision in order to assess whether postrelease supervision affects arrest outcomes. The Returning Home study also examines community supervision via the expectations and experiences of prisoners who have been released to community supervision. In addition, Urban Institute staff used Bureau of Justice Statistics data to examine various aspects of parole in all U.S. states.
Recent Findings from the Urban Institute on Community Supervision and Reentry
- Nationally, parole violation rates have increased substantially over the past 25 years, and in many states, violators account for a significant number and share of state prison admissions. The number of people returned to state prison for a parole violation increased sevenfold in the last two decades, from 27,000 in 1980 to 203,000 in 2000. Further, parole violators, who accounted for 17 percent of state prison admissions in 1980, accounted for over one-third of all admissions in 1999. In 2002, more than 40 percent of prison admissions in Virginia and Georgia were the result of probation or parole violations.
- A significant share of prisoners is serving time in prison or state jail for parole or probation violations. Returning Home findings show that about 4 in 10 respondents in Texas and Ohio had been serving their current term in prison or state jail because of a parole or probation violation. Of prisoners released in New Jersey in 2002, 39 percent were incarcerated for a violation of parole.
- Many prisoners believe that it will be easy to avoid a parole violation after release. The majority of Returning Home respondents (between 77 and 81 percent) believed it would be easy to avoid a parole violation (see supporting text 1, 2, 3, 4). Nearly 60 percent of prisoners surveyed in the Philadelphia Prison System believed it would be very easy or pretty easy to avoid a parole or probation violation upon release.
- Individuals released to supervision generally have high expectations and respect for their parole or probation officers (POs); however, their expectations are not always realistic. Prior to release, the vast majority of Returning Home respondents (between 82 and 87 percent) expected their PO to be helpful with their transition to the community (see supporting text 1, 2, 3, 4). And after release, while nearly all Returning Home respondents in Illinois and Maryland believed that their PO acted professionally and treated them with respect, only half reported that their PO had actually been helpful in their transition from prison.
- Parole supervision appears to have little effect on the rearrest rates of released prisoners in some large states. A study of 14 states indicates that mandatory parolees, the largest share of released prisoners, fare no better on supervision than similar prisoners released without supervision in terms of rearrest outcomes. Parolees released by a parole board were less likely to be rearrested; yet when taking into account personal characteristics and criminal histories, this difference narrows to about 4 percentage points. Despite this general finding, females, individuals with fewer prior arrests, public order offenders, and those in prison for technical violations were less likely to be rearrested if supervised after release.