Juvenile parole and the rehabilitative ideal: A study of the relationship between parole length of stay and recidivism

The juvenile justice system has historically struggled to fulfill the conflicting goals of maintaining public safety while helping youthful offenders reintegrate back into society. Though the problem of juvenile crime has persisted through the years, the repertoire of interventions employed by juvenile justice officials have oscillated between punitive and rehabilitative policies. Parole emerged in the late 19th century symbolizing the ambivalence in juvenile justice programs between helping and hurting youth. This tension is evident within a policy of mandatory parole for all juvenile offenders.;The concept of sociological ambivalence (Merton 1976; Smelser 1998) was introduced as a framework for analyzing the phenomenon of juvenile parole. A theoretical explanation of parole recidivism was developed that integrates of sociological ambivalence with "opportunity structures for failure" inherent in the parole enterprise.;This research was concerned with how recidivism outcomes varied among a sample of committed youth (n = 278) in Colorado released to parole. A retrospective nonexperimental design was employed in which existing sources of quantitative data were used to provide composite profiles of the sample population in several risk and need areas. Drawing on official records, data were also compiled to provide measures of the parole interventions provided to the parolees and subsequent recidivism outcomes.;Findings showed that mandatory parole brings more youth under the umbrella of social control for longer periods of time than is necessary to fulfill a reintegrative function. The intensity of parole surveillance and services was more strongly related to the race/ethnicity of parolees than their unique risk factors and treatment needs. The more time youth spent on parole, the greater the likelihood that these same youth were charged and convicted of new criminal offenses while on parole.;This dissertation research addressed how parole supervision imposes a "hyperstructure" of responsibilities and obligations onto parolees that ultimately provides greater opportunities for parole failure. This structure might deepen a juvenile's involvement in the criminal justice system by introducing youth to a maze of multiple and simultaneous punishments and associated parole conditions. Instead of functioning to limit state control over youthful offenders, in some situations mandatory parole further extends its reach.