Many people assume that probation and parole are similar. Although these two might have some similarities, probation and parole have so many differences. Probation means putting grown-up offenders under the community’s supervision via a probation agency, while parole means releasing lawbreakers from the prison to serve their remaining sentence out of the prison (Alarid, 2016). As mentioned above, there are existing similarities and variations between probation and parole. These include; Objectives, present shortcomings, historical development, and their purposes.
In Probation, a judge may decide to accord a probationer a sentence outside the jail. This mostly happens when the precedence or the gravity of the crime committed implies that the probationer is not a menace to the community and that confinement is not a convenient punishment. The probationer has the freedom of living freely with other people but has to follow conditions given to him/her by the court during a certain period and must report to the probation officer assigned to him regularly (Abadinsky, 2017). Some conditions given to a probationer may include; living within a certain area as ordered by the court, attending rehabilitation programs, upholding employment among others. After the probation period is over, probationers may be required to submit to the court evidence that they followed the court orders during the probation period. If the probationer fails to follow orders, the court may be forced to grant a jail sentence to the probationer.
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The purpose and function of probation are to give the probationer a chance to be rehabilitated without being confined in jail. Probation as a Latin word meaning “prove” means that lawbreakers are allowed to prove themselves that they can adhere to rules and laws as they live in the community and not to be imprisoned. The main purpose of rehabilitation is to both protect the community from lawbreakers and also to rehabilitate lawbreakers. Therefore, is comprised of rehabilitation, transforming offenders, punishment, prevention, and also controlling crime (Dorch, 2019). Probation relies on the idea that people can change and that under good supervision, lawbreakers can be rehabilitated and protecting society from lawbreakers at the same time.
Probation also aims at protecting the rights of an offender. Statute dictates a certain period that the offenders are supposed to be kept on probation and therefore judges cannot impose a probation period imposed by the statute. This grant judges an opportunity to be reasonable when setting out a probation period. Also, these statutes dictate when it's possible to grant an offender probation instead of jail time.
Parole is the case where one is granted a probation period after him/she serving a prison sentence (Alarid, 2016). Thus, comes in as the major difference between probation and parole as parole does not serve as an alternative for a prison sentence, but freedom given to several prisoners after they serve a certain period in jail. Parolees, like probationers, are under strict terms and conditions as they serve their sentence on parole. These terms and conditions may include; not living beyond the country’s or county’s borderlines, reporting regularly to the parole officer, testing for drugs and alcohol regularly, and handing over evidence of the place of residence and place of work (D.A. Andrews, 2014). If a parolee does not abide by these terms and conditions, his parole is dismissed and he is granted another prison sentence. Inmates who are convicted for committing certain crimes like drug trafficking, rape, murder, kidnapping, and arson are not considered to serving parole.
The purpose and function of parole are to give prisoners a good platform where they can gradually change and be able to fit in the community again, rather than going straight to the community without any support or supervision after serving their prison sentence. The main objective of parole is to strengthen the community’s safety (Dorch, 2019). As we all know, life in prison is quite different from life in the community, getting inmates straight from prison back to the community can be hard and challenging (Abadinsky, 2017). When prisoners are released from prison directly to the community, there would be high chances of them reoffending as compared to when these prisoners are released under supervision. Parole will minimize the chances of the prisoner reoffending and give the community maximum protection it requires.
Probation/parole are part of law enforcement and this means that they are interrelated. Probation and parole officers, on many occasions, are given firearms, badges, and a mandate to operate as police officers. The officers given this mandate must go for training in police academies for certification. Courts and parole/probation are related in a manner that, if the court believes in probation/parole officers in carrying out their job well, then they will place the offenders in their hands, but if the court does not believe in the officers, then the offenders are likely to serve a jail sentence. This kind of trust also exists between the court, institution-based corrections, and private security.
Bibliography
Abadinsky, H. (2017). Probation and Parole: Corrections in the Community. Pearson.
Alarid, L. F. (2016). Community Based Corrections. Cengage Learning.
D.A. Andrews, J. B. (2014). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct. Routledge.
Dorch, E. L. (2019). Community Risk and Protective Factors for Probation and Parole Risk Assessment Tools: Emerging Research and Opportunities: Emerging Research and Opportunities. IGI Global.
