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August 2, 2008Returning Home on Parole: Former Prisoners' Experiences in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas |
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From Urban Institute: Using data from the Urban Institute's Returning Home study, this brief examines post release supervision experiences in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. Does supervision benefit some groups more than others? Overall, parolees reported positive relationships with their parole officers but received relatively little tangible assistance finding a job or drug treatment program. Parole supervision was associated with increased employment and reduced substance use among former prisoners, but had almost no impact on self-reported crime or rearrest. Research using BJS data found that prisoners released to parole supervision across a number of large states were rearrested at rates similar to those who were released without supervision (Solomon, Kachnowski, and Bhati 2005). Additionally, a recent report on parole by the National Research Council (2007) concluded that much is still unknown about community reintegration while on parole and that certain types of offenders may benefit more than others from supervision. Official statistics can take us only so far toward understanding the reasons for parole's success, or lack of success, at reducing crime. This paper explores life on parole from the perspective of 740 former male prisoners in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas.1 Interviews were conducted as part of the multistate longitudinal study Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry.
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