D: Managing the Key Transition Period

2: Little is known about the relationship between parole supervision and deterrence; however, the most effective supervision strategies include a mix of surveillance and treatment.

In this chapter:

  • Overview
  • Research Highlights:
  • Recommendations:
  • Supervision strategies that simply increase the level of supervision, such as intensive community supervision, increased drug testing, and home confinement, have not been found to reduce re-offending. [1]   Rather, increased surveillance increases only the likelihood of detecting technical violations. Likewise, there is no decisive support for the conclusion that increasing parole supervision will, in and of itself, result in fewer crimes. [2]   The focus of the parole field has shifted from linkages to services to monitoring and enforcement, even as research indicates that strategies that include some level of rehabilitation or treatment in combination with surveillance techniques more effectively change behavior and reduce crime. [3]   , [4]  

    1. Joan Petersilia, "A Decade of Experimenting with Intermediate Sanctions: What Have We Learned?" Perspectives on Crime and Justice (Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 1998).

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    2. No citation found for FN_evaluating-intensive-supervision-probation-slash-parole-results-of-a-nationwide-experiment! .

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    3. No citation found for FN_when-prisoners-come-home-parole-and-prisoner-reentry! .

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    4. Lawrence W. Sherman, Denise Gottfredson, Doris MacKenzie, John Eck, Peter Reuter, and Shawn Bushway, Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising, A Report to the United States Congress (National Institute of Justice, 1998-07-01) .

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