Community corrections is an important function of the criminal justice system as it offers both non-custodial alternatives and post-incarceration programs such as parole to help reintegrate offenders back into the community. The concept of parole offers great debate among society as to whether it is a beneficial program to utilise. The idea that it could create unnecessary risk to citizens is often counteracted by the belief that the program could provide greater influence on offenders’ behaviour. This essay will define and describe the concept of parole in Australia, exploring the origin of parole and how it functions within the criminal justice system, whilst focusing on the Victorian correctional system. The essay will then separately discuss
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In Victoria according to the Department of Justice and Regulations (2015) there are customary conditions which every offender released on parole must comply with such as obeying the law, reporting to their correctional officer or services and not leaving the state without written permission. Victoria’s adult parole board also stipulates intensive parole conditions that are generally applied to offenders for the first three months of their parole. Within this time, these conditions can include participating in unpaid work, or a training program, as well as twice a week reports with their correctional officer (Department of Justice & Regulations, 2015). There are also further conditions and restrictions that are set by the discretion of the adult parole board. These conditions are known as additional conditions such as no contact with children or random substance testing. Furthermore there are even a particular set of conditions for sexual offenders being released on parole, set by the Department of Sexual Offenders division of the adult parole board (Department of Justice & Regulations, 2015). The majority of the conditions set by the parole board cover a vast range of factors and can be discretionally chosen to …show more content…
This essay will first be discussing some of the justifications of using the parole program and the benefits they provides to both the offender, criminal justice system and the community. According to Simpson (1999), a common benefit of the parole program is displayed within the behaviour of the offenders throughout their incarceration sentence. It is displayed through good behaviour in anticipation of the reward of being released early and placed on parole, back within the community. Simpson (1999) states that the reward of parole increases the chances of reform and alters and influences the general discipline within the prison. This perception was examined by Proctor and Pease (2000), using the deterrence theory method and was conducted on 223 offenders who were selected from the population on the offender board review in Nebraska. The participants consisted of both male and female offenders who were on the parole review board between 1993 and 1994. In Nebraska the parole process consists of two meetings before the parole board, the offender review board conducted privately to determine whether the offender should be granted a hearing, as well as the parole hearing itself (Proctor & Pease, 2000). The study confirmed from using the offender review board as the variable that the denial of a parole hearing positively affected offender’s behaviours to
In Victoria according to the Department of Justice and Regulations (2015) there are customary conditions which every offender released on parole must comply with such as obeying the law, reporting to their correctional officer or services and not leaving the state without written permission. Victoria’s adult parole board also stipulates intensive parole conditions that are generally applied to offenders for the first three months of their parole. Within this time, these conditions can include participating in unpaid work, or a training program, as well as twice a week reports with their correctional officer (Department of Justice & Regulations, 2015). There are also further conditions and restrictions that are set by the discretion of the adult parole board. These conditions are known as additional conditions such as no contact with children or random substance testing. Furthermore there are even a particular set of conditions for sexual offenders being released on parole, set by the Department of Sexual Offenders division of the adult parole board (Department of Justice & Regulations, 2015). The majority of the conditions set by the parole board cover a vast range of factors and can be discretionally chosen to …show more content…
This essay will first be discussing some of the justifications of using the parole program and the benefits they provides to both the offender, criminal justice system and the community. According to Simpson (1999), a common benefit of the parole program is displayed within the behaviour of the offenders throughout their incarceration sentence. It is displayed through good behaviour in anticipation of the reward of being released early and placed on parole, back within the community. Simpson (1999) states that the reward of parole increases the chances of reform and alters and influences the general discipline within the prison. This perception was examined by Proctor and Pease (2000), using the deterrence theory method and was conducted on 223 offenders who were selected from the population on the offender board review in Nebraska. The participants consisted of both male and female offenders who were on the parole review board between 1993 and 1994. In Nebraska the parole process consists of two meetings before the parole board, the offender review board conducted privately to determine whether the offender should be granted a hearing, as well as the parole hearing itself (Proctor & Pease, 2000). The study confirmed from using the offender review board as the variable that the denial of a parole hearing positively affected offender’s behaviours to