Opting Out of Parole: The Other Side of the Revolving Door
Open Access
- Author:
- Williamson, Carrie Elizabeth
- Graduate Program:
- Crime, Law and Justice
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 26, 2009
- Committee Members:
- John Kramer, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
John Kramer, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Eric Silver, Committee Member
John David Mccarthy, Committee Member
David Alexander Gamson, Committee Member - Keywords:
- parole
alternative sanctions - Abstract:
- This study examines characteristics and reentry outcomes for a unique group of criminal offenders: those who choose to remain incarcerated rather than apply for parole release, so that they may be released unconditionally after serving their maximum sentence length. I compare both characteristics and reentry outcomes of these offenders to three other groups of released offenders: true max-outs who have never been paroled, pseudo max-outs who were paroled and revoked prior to maxing out their sentences, and offenders released under parole supervision. Black offenders were consistently less likely than White offenders to opt out of parole, as were offenders with a record of assault or violence and those who had been punished for prison rule violations. Additionally, Megan’s Law offenders were significantly more likely to choose to remain incarcerated. This study expands upon past survey research that has assessed preferences for prison over intermediate sanctions by comparing a group of offenders who have actually made the decision to circumvent the parole process, and offers some theoretical explanation for the decision.