Implementing Reforms in Community Corrections: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This mixed-method study examined changes implemented in Pennsylvania community corrections agencies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed ( N = 54; 83% response rate) and interviewed ( N = 10) county Chiefs of probation and parole regarding changes to agency policies, processes of this change, and expected sustainability. Findings revealed meaningful changes to community corrections policy initiated by the pandemic through new modes of supervision contact —such as “ curbside probation”— and new policies regarding violations of supervision that align with evidence-based principles. The moment’s urgency provided a rare but effective impetus for reform, but perceptions of sustainability varied across Chiefs’ role orientations. Our findings demonstrate how this moment expanded the footprint of evidence-based practice through local criminal justice reform and reveal new insights into capacities for and processes of change.

“I’m Going to be Successful Someday”: Women’s Personal Projects to Improve Their Lives, and Implications for Clarifying the Nature of Agency in Criminological Theories of Desistance

Women’s agency to construct prosocial lives remains understudied in criminology. This qualitative inquiry explores the nature and outcomes of women’s personal projects, which reflect their agency. In up to five interviews, 401 women on probation and parole explained efforts to improve their lives. Psychological theory on personal projects guided analysis that revealed information on project meaning and facilitators and barriers to project pursuit. Women shared a motivation to avoid trouble and establish prosocial lives. Outcomes were improved by social support and prosocial opportunities. Findings have implications for defining and analyzing agency in desistance research and for correctional responses to women.

A Comparison of Marijuana Use Across Different Levels of Justice-Involved Populations

A large portion of the U.S. population is justice-involved, an important at-risk population with poor physical/mental health outcomes and increased rates of substance use. Using the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the current study assesses marijuana use across level of community-based justice involvement (i.e., arrest, probation, and parole) among adults. Given increasing rates of marijuana use and a relative lack of research, the current study addresses an important gap in the literature. Findings from logistic regression analysis show that adults who had been arrested or were on probation were more likely to use marijuana compared to adults with no justice involvement, while adults on parole were less likely to use marijuana than those on probation. This study offers evidence of differences in marijuana use across level of justice involvement, which may be attributable to other substance use behaviors, and has important implications for criminal justice practice.

“It’s Pure Chaos Every Day”: COVID-19 and the work of Canadian federal institutional parole officers

As the Canadian federal correctional system grappled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutional parole officers, who play a central role in prisoners’ case management team, remained essential service providers. Working in uncertain circumstances, these correctional workers navigated new and rapidly changing protocols and risks, while attempting to continue to provide support to those on their caseloads. Based on semi-structured interviews with 96 institutional parole officers, conducted after Canada’s “first wave” of COVID-19 infections, we analyze three ways in which their work was impacted by the pandemic: shifting workloads, routines, and responsibilities; increased workloads due to decarceration (i.e., efforts to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals); and the navigation of new forms of risk and uncertainty. This study advances the understanding of stress and risk in probation and parole work and presents recommendations to ameliorate the occupational stresses experienced by correctional workers during and beyond COVID-19.

Reimagining Pretrial & Sentencing

In this article, we discuss the evolution of criminal justice reform efforts focused on pretrial and sentencing policies and practices that resulted in unprecedented rates of incarceration. There is an urgent need to identify a strategy of pretrial justice and sentencing that will reduce crime and victimization, ameliorate unwarranted disparities, and reclaim human capital currently lost to incarceration. A discussion of proposed policy reforms should begin by first identifying the costs incurred by pretrial decisions (and across further decision points in the justice system) on both the system and the collateral costs to the detained, their families and their communities. In the short-term, jurisdictions should reconsider probation and parole policies and practices that contribute to mass incarceration. Mid-term improvements require inter-agency approaches by law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts to institute alternatives to incarceration and collaborate with health and community organizations to address underlying issues that lead to local justice system intervention. Importantly, what we highlight is the need for a long-term approach designed to slow the flow of individuals into jails and prisons and to reduce the lengths of sentences they are serving.

“Terrified of a System I Didn’t Understand”: Reporting Staff Sexual Misconduct Against Women on Parole

Incarcerated women experience staff-perpetrated sexual victimization at high rates, yet limited research exists regarding women’s experiences of this victimization while on probation and parole, particularly regarding their formal reporting decisions. This qualitative study explored the formal reporting decisions for 10 women who experienced staff-perpetrated sexual victimization while on parole. Women who formally reported their victimization experiences qualitatively differed from non-reporting women in terms of the dynamics and their identification of victimization (e.g., viewing as support vs. fear) and in the types of structural barriers (e.g., vulnerability and cautionary tales) they encountered. These findings highlight policy, practice, theory, and research directions.

Spatial Mismatch, Race and Ethnicity, and Unemployment: Implications for Interventions With Women on Probation and Parole

For 312 women on probation and parole, we used mediation and conditional process analyses to examine the indirect effect of minority racial/ethnic status on unemployment through spatial mismatch between women’s place of residence and the location of available jobs. Consistent with the spatial mismatch hypothesis, employment opportunities per capita within 2 miles of women’s census tract of residence mediated the relationship between minority status and unemployment. The connection of spatial mismatch to unemployment was less pronounced for women with high levels of transportation access. Findings point to the importance of broader social policies to support well-developed transportation systems and community-based job development.

Correlates of post-traumatic stress among victimized women on probation and parole

The current study aimed to identify the correlates of post-traumatic stress among a sample of women on probation and parole with a history of victimization. Community-based sampling was used to recruit 406 women on probation and parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The post-traumatic stress diagnostic scale was used to measure three indicators of post-traumatic stress: post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, symptom severity, and the number of life domains impacted by symptoms. Shaped by the comprehensive health seeking and coping paradigm, logistic and ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between sociodemographic factors, criminal justice involvement, cumulative victimization, substance use, social support, material loss, homelessness, and post-traumatic stress. Models identifying correlates of post-traumatic stress accounted for between 18.6% and 26% of the variance and point to critical opportunities for intervention surrounding the dynamic factors of recent intimate partner violence and material loss. Targeting these important factors during community supervision is anticipated to decrease post-traumatic stress and increase the likelihood of success under criminal justice system supervision.