Parole release decisions revisited: An analysis of parole release decisions for violent inmates in a southeastern state
✍ Scribed by Kathryn D. Morgan; Brent Smith
- Book ID
- 104021288
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 148 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0047-2352
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
In an attempt to discover the major predictors of parole decision-making in one southeastern state, this study examined the cases of 762 inmates under the supervision of the Alabama Department of Corrections who were eligible for parole from June 1, 1993 through May 31, 1994. Of the 762 eligible inmates, only 138 (18 percent) were granted parole. Using parole disposition (granted or denied) as the dependent variable, this study investigated the offense, offender, and general parole variables and their impact on parole decisions. Logistic regression findings indicated that the strongest predictors of parole release decisions were the length of the original sentence assessed for the offense, the total number of felonies for which the inmate was serving time, and the warden and senior officers' recommendations. These variables, which were also significant at the bivariate level of analysis, explained approximately 47 percent of the variation in the dependent variable. A major concern of the study was the generalizability of the findings.