Parole Officers And The Prison System

However, all offenders eligible for parole are not automatically granted a release (Latessa & Smith, 2015, p. 106). Parole must be approved by the state or federal parole board which reviews the offender’s prison record to determine if they are safe to release back into society.

In today 's prison system of the United States, over 75% of the prisoners have the right to many luxuries while incarcerated instead of getting punished for the crimes committed. In fact, many inmates receive better health care than most people in the United States. Certainly, inmates have more luxuries than the citizens who work hard for them. With that in mind, inmates may consider jail better than the real world. No doubt inmates deserve treatment of an adult for the crimes they have committed. But also should get the punishment they deserve. In today 's world, inmates are not fully punished for the crimes committed.

Thesis: Release planning for convicted felons is a way to help avoid the various problems that are associated with rehabilitation following the release of convicted felons due to their: basic needs, adequate housing, seeking employment and furthering their education, healthcare and support systems.

“The Prison and Probation Service has two main goals: To contribute to the reduction of criminality, and to work to increase safety in society. To achieve these goals we work with sentenced persons in order to improve their possibilities of living a life without committing new crimes.” (Linstrom and Leijonram)

Whenever you imagine prison, you think up ideas and violent images that you have seen in the movies or on TV.   Outdated clichés consisting of men eating stale bread and drinking dirty water are only a small fraction of the number of horrible, yet “just” occurrences which are stereotypical of everyday life in prison.   Perhaps it could be a combination of your upbringing, horrific ideas about the punishment which our nation inflicts on those who violate its’ more serious laws that keeps people frightened just enough to lead a law-abiding life. Despite it’s success in keeping dangerous offenders off the streets, the American prison system fails in fulfilling its original design of restoring criminals to being productive members of society, it is also extremely expensive and wastes our precious tax dollars.

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means

The goal of parole is to reduce recidivism and help rehabilitate offenders. That is not always the case; offenders will reoffend anyways and be sent back to prison to finish out their sentence. There are many programs out there that try to help parolees become a part of the community again and stay out of trouble. The programs are out there; it is up to the parolees to join them and stay committed. The programs goals are to help the offenders reintegrate into society by using procedures and community resources.

Parole is the release of a prisoner by the decision of a paroling authority (Mackenzie, 2002). The offender is then required to remain under the observation of a parole officer who monitors the offender 's obedience with rules of conduct that are imposed by the parole board (Mackenzie, 2002). Parole is actually regarded as a back-end program that works in conjunction with the community (Mackenzie, 2002). Parole is actually similar to probation in that it follows a term of incarceration (Mackenzie, 2002). There are specific conditions which parole can be applied. Violations of these rules may result in re-imprisonment forced to return to prison to serve out the length of their original sentence from the date of release (Mackenzie, 2002). There are currently over five million people who are being supervised by the criminal justice system in the United States (Bureau of

In Sentencing legislation. Under that law, parole was abolished; felons sentenced to prison are now given a bifurcated (two-part) sentence in which the sentencing judge specifies an amount of time a convicted felon will serve in prison and an amount of time the person will serve in the community on extended supervision. Under

There are even worse scenarios that exist in today's prisons. The prison guards have little control and prison can be a violent place because again it is not a place that specializes in rehab. On television shows you see inmates stabbing each other and are quick to assume that it is a dramatization, but it really an occurrence that happens often, in prisons all over the world for that matter. In an article by Raphael Rowe he writes about how a part of him died in prison, and he had to be on his guard constantly, "Once, I was sitting in the television room watching football when someone I knew came in and told me to leave the room. I didn't ask questions: I just left and stood outside. A few seconds later, three other guys came running past me, pillow-cases with eye-holes cut out over their heads, carrying a huge cooking pot full of hot oil. I heard the screams long before some young black guy - a sex offender - came running out, his skin dripping from his face." Such horrid tales should let the general public know that we need to reevaluate

are on probation or parole. Also included is the beginning of the probation and parole systems,

Lee Tergeson, actor from the television show OZ said, “I know what it is like to be ignored, and I think that is the big problem about the prison system: These people are being thrown away. There is no sense of rehabilitation. In some places, they are trying to do things. But, in most cases, it is a holding cell.” (Tergeson, 2002) He speaks the truth.

They have to fill out and sign an application the happens to be furnished by a case manager. If the criminal does not complete the application then the offender is provided the waiver to the application. After that, the caseworker the will notify the criminal when his parole hearing is to take place. The parole hearing is an opportunity for the criminal to present their case and why they think they should be able to receive parole. The commission determines if the person is eligible for parole according to the type of sentence the criminal recieve when he was convicted. The earliest time the criminal can be parole is called the parole eligibility date. If the criminal is granted parole they must wait to be released until on or after the parole eligibility date (Frequently Asked Questions). If granted parole the parolee will then be recieve back into the community. Only 15 states do not use the parole system today while the rest of the 35 states do. The first state to use the parole system was New York. “In 1910 Congress established the U.S. Parole Commission and gave it the responsibility of evaluating and setting the release dates for federal prisoners”( Parole). Also those of a very serious crime must complete eighty-five percent of their original sentence before they can be released from prison and sent back into the real world.

A crucial part of the criminal justice system includes probation. Probation is the release of a criminal offender from detention or incarceration. At this time, the offender is subject to a period of good behavior under supervision. Probation is also referred to a kind of punishment that is giving as part of sentencing. Instead of giving an offender a longer sentence, a judge will order the defendant to report to their assigned probation officer on a regular basis, where the offender will receive a schedule instructing him or her of their probation requirements. If the defendant does not obey a probation order, the defendant will automatically return to jail or to court, only to be given a longer sentence by the judge. A person on probation is not allowed to leave the judicial district without permission of the probation officer or court (Seiter, 2011). The probationer shall report to the probation officer as directed and shall submit truthful and complete reports (Seiter, 2011). A person on probation must also follow all directions instructed by his or her probation officer truthfully. When on probation, an offender must obtain employment and needs to notify his or her probation officer of all changes of address within a three-day limit. The probationer shall also refrain from the excessive use of alcohol

When the average person thinks of jails and prisons, they typically think of horrible criminals being locked up in order to protect the rest of society. They think justice has been served, and those who did the crime are now doing the time. But what goes on inside a prison, and inside the minds of the inmates? What about after those offenders have served their time, and are now being released back into the general public? People don’t really think about how prison affects a person’s mentality, or how incarceration impacts both relationships the inmate currently has, or ones that will develop in the future. Although it isn’t something most people think of first, incarceration is an experience that can have a negative psychological impact on a person for quite some time.