Deck 10: Community Corrections: Parole and Prisoner Reentry

Question 1

______ was passed in reaction to a paroled sex offender's raping and killing a 7-year-old girl in New Jersey in 1994.

A) Jessica's Law
B) Megan's Law
C) Amanda's Law
D) Heather's Law

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Parole in the United States is the practice of ______.

A) releasing convicted criminals from prison prior to the completion of their full sentence
B) releasing convicted criminals from prison after the completion of their full sentence
C) allowing individuals to serve the totality of their sentence in the community
D) revising the sentences of convicted criminals during their incarceration in prison

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Parole is different from probation insofar as it ______.

A) is an administrative function
B) is a judicial function
C) is dependent entirely on the good time an offender earns
D) involves a formal legal trial to determine guilt or innocence

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The term parole comes from a French phrase that means ______.

A) under great supervision
B) the second chance
C) word of honor
D) renewed promise

Question 5

Maconochie advocated what was essentially a(n) ______ sentence.

A) indeterminate
B) determinate
C) consecutive
D) concurrent

Question 6

According to Maconochie, the goal of corrections is to ______.

A) protect and serve
B) keep the peace
C) exact revenge
D) teach virtue

Question 7

Currently, there are about ______ state and federal parolees.

A) 580,000
B) 870,000
C) 1,243,000
D) 1,678,000

Question 8

______ was an infamous criminal who received national attention after committing an armed robbery and rape while on parole for murder.

A) Richard Speck
B) David Horowitz
C) Willie Horton
D) Charles Whitman

Question 9

In 2012, the most common means for offenders to gain parole was via ______ release.

A) mandatory
B) indeterminate
C) unconditional
D) discretionary

Question 10

______ offenders have the highest degree of recidivism while on parole.

A) Property
B) Violent
C) Drug
D) Sex

Question 11

The philosophical foundation of parole has historical roots in the ______.

A) Eastern State Penitentiary
B) Norfolk Island Penal Colony
C) Elmira Reformatory
D) Walnut Street Jail

Question 12

Which of the following principles was NOT the basis for Maconochie's approach to prison administration?

A) Cruel and vindictive punishment debases the criminal and the larger society.
B) The purpose of punishment should be reformation of the convict.
C) Criminal sentences should not be viewed in terms of time served but rather as tasks to be performed.
D) Definite prison terms allow convicts to know the length of their sentence and are the only just way to tailor a punishment.

Question 13

When was the first parole system instituted in the United States?

A) 1830s
B) 1850s
C) 1870s
D) 1890s

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT one of the stages of the Irish system?

A) inmates starting off in the general population and acclimating to the conditions of prison
B) convicts earning marks through labor and good behavior
C) movement into an open prerelease prison
D) a ticket of leave

Question 15

In what year was the U.S. Board of Parole created?

A) 1870
B) 1900
C) 1930
D) 1960

Question 16

A ticket of leave is ______.

A) granted for individuals who have received enough credits while in prison
B) a system that allows convicts to labor in the prison while serving their sentence
C) a system that allows convicts to live in the community while serving their sentence
D) all of these

Question 17

The mark system was based on ______.

A) a convict's ability to convince a magistrate of his or her innocence
B) the speedy and efficient performance of tasks
C) a set of punishments convicts received for violating institutional rules
D) all of these

Question 18

Since the 1980s, the number of discretionary parole releases has ______ while the number of mandatory parole releases has ______.

A) increased; declined
B) remained steady; declined
C) declined; increased
D) increased; remained steady

Question 19

Which offenders did Langan and Levin (2002) find had the highest rate of recidivism?

A) murderers
B) sex offenders
C) property offenders
D) none of these

Question 20

The down side of unconditional release in parole is that ______.

A) inmates have less incentive to enter rehabilitation programs
B) inmates have more incentive to abide by prison rules
C) inmates are released with supervision and reporting requirements
D) inmates lose their credits in the mark system

Question 21

Fixed determinate sentences allow for inmates to be released after the completion of their sentence without supervision or reporting requirements, which is known as ______.

A) unconditional release
B) discretionary parole
C) mandatory parole
D) parole boarding

Question 22

Parole granted to an offender after a board chooses to do so is called ______.

A) unconditional release
B) discretionary parole
C) mandatory parole
D) parole boarding

Question 23

______ is automatic parole for almost all inmates in states that have a determinate system of sentencing.

A) Unconditional release
B) Discretionary parole
C) Mandatory parole
D) Parole boarding

Question 24

About ______ of parolees are rearrested for a new offense within 2 years of their release.

A) 30%
B) 40%
C) 50%
D) 60%

Question 25

A ______ is a panel of people presumably qualified to make judgments about the suitability of a prisoner to be released from prison after having served a specified time of his or her sentence.

A) determinate sentence hearing
B) discretionary parole hearing
C) mandatory parole hearing
D) parole board

Question 26

When deciding whether to grant parole, a parole board considers ______.

A) the original presentence investigation report
B) the nature of the offense for which the subject is incarcerated
C) indications that the inmate is repentant
D) all of these

Question 27

One in ______ parolees will leave with no parole supervision.

A) 10
B) 5
C) 3
D) 2

Question 28

In terms of corrections, imprisonment almost always results in ______.

A) recidivism
B) reentry
C) rehabilitation
D) retribution

Question 29

In 2004, ______.

A) probationers had a higher rate of successful completion than parolees
B) parolees had a higher rate of successful completion than probationers
C) probationers and parolees had nearly equal rates of successful completion
D) neither probationers nor parolees had successful completion rates

Question 30

______, the greater the chance of his or her success while on parole.

A) The younger the offender
B) The more educated the offender
C) The less time the offender spent in prison
D) The older the offender

Question 31

What is a good con?

A) an incarcerated individual who adheres to the convict code and is accepted by other inmates
B) a convict who serves his or her time and does not resist the authority of correctional officers
C) an administrative classification that designates a convict who is deserving of good time credit
D) a convict who has been incarcerated for the majority of his or her adult life

Question 32

Glaze and Palla (2005) indicate a success rate of 60% for probationers in 2004; however, the figure for successful completion of parole was only ______.

A) 10%
B) 27%
C) 33%
D) 46%

Question 33

The process of reintegrating offenders into their communities regardless of whether they were integrated into them in a prosocial way before they entered prison is known as ______.

A) parole
B) probation
C) programming
D) reentry

Question 34

The most successful tool for the successful reintegration of offenders who want to go straight is ______.

A) education
B) employment
C) family support
D) religious beliefs

Question 35

Which of the following statements best captures the ideology behind the Control and Restore phase believed to be necessary for successful prisoner reentry?

A) Prerelease programming, such as that provided by the Control and Restore phase, immediately precedes release from prison and focuses on preparing offenders through institution-based programming.
B) Community-based transition programs allow offenders to enact the skills they learned while participating in institution-based programs in a real-world environment.
C) No services are provided during this phase, as offenders need to learn how to cope with the realities of life on the outside without the structure that they have come to expect.
D) Although there is no monitoring of offenders, controlling and restoring offenders require them to do exactly what they are told, when they are told.

Question 36

Which of the following statements best captures the ideology behind the Sustain and Support phase believed to be necessary for successful prisoner reentry?

A) Sustaining and supporting returning ex-offenders require continued monitoring by the criminal justice system.
B) Ex-offenders are responsible for the sustainability of a crime-free lifestyle, even when this implies that they have to seek out their own aftercare.
C) Long-term community-based support is necessary to connect ex-offenders who are no longer under supervision to the services they need.
D) Short-term community-based interventions are the most viable for ex-offenders because many of them have already received a significant amount of programming while incarcerated.

Question 37

Which phase of prisoner reentry may be the most difficult for inmates?

A) Phase I: Protect and Prepare
B) Phase II: Control and Restore
C) Phase III: Sustain and Support
D) Phase IV: Restore and Sustain

Question 38

Among prisoners, which racial/ethnic group is least likely to have completed high school or earned a GED?

A) white inmates
B) Hispanic inmates
C) black inmates
D) Asian inmates

Question 39

Research suggests that ______ of individuals released from prison fail in entering the job market within the first year.

A) 30%
B) 40%
C) 50%
D) 60%

Question 40

Economists find that incarceration has the most substantial impact on the ______ of formerly incarcerated persons.

A) wages
B) wage growth
C) employment opportunities
D) none of these

Question 41

The finding that the parole success rate for Utah is 19%, whereas the rate for Massachusetts is 83%, suggests that ______.

A) Massachusetts has been far more successful at fostering successful parolees
B) parolees in Utah are more resistant to rehabilitation programming than their counterparts in other states
C) the two states have dramatically different reentry programs that can account for the different parole success rates
D) the two states have drastically different standards that define parole success

Question 42

Halfway houses are ______.

A) transitional places of residence for correctional clients
B) intermediate sanctions for individuals who require more supervision than traditional probation
C) used for the treatment of individuals who have multiple problems and risk factors
D) all of these

Question 43

The first halfway house in America was started by the ______.

A) Mormons
B) Baptists
C) Catholic church
D) Quakers

Question 44

The first halfway house in America was opened in 1845 in ______.

A) Philadelphia
B) Chicago
C) Boston
D) New York City

Question 45

Nancy Marion criticized halfway houses for ______.

A) admitting individuals who would not have gone to prison anyway
B) being too soft on crime
C) putting public safety at risk by keeping dangerous criminals in the community
D) not focusing enough money and effort on the rehabilitation of offenders

Question 46

House arrest is typically used as ______.

A) the primary sanction for both violent and nonviolent offenders
B) an alternative to drug treatment
C) the initial phase of intensive probation or parole
D) pretrial detention for the majority of offenders awaiting trial

Question 47

The general public has been critical of house arrest because it is seen as ______.

A) a waste of taxpayer money
B) an ineffective practice
C) too soft on crime
D) depriving parolees of basic freedoms

Question 48

According to Payne and Gainey (2004), opponents of electronic monitoring criticize it for ______.

A) being too expensive
B) not being effective in controlling crime
C) putting public safety at risk
D) intruding too much into the realm of privacy

Question 49

Several European nations have introduced electronic monitoring to ______.

A) cut the costs of supervision
B) reduce the number of probation officers
C) ease the overcrowding of prisons
D) increase the number of probation officers

Question 50

According to Petersilia (2004), with the best methods currently available and with adequate budgeting, recidivism could be reduced by ______.

A) 10%
B) 50%
C) 30%
D) 45%

Question 51

Individuals released via mandatory parole systems are more successful than those released via discretionary parole.

Question 52

The Irish system begins with a period of solitary confinement.

Question 53

The largest percentage of parolees, by race, are Hispanic.

Question 54

About half of all parolees have spent some time in prison prior to parole.

Question 55

Parolees have a higher rate of successful completion than probationers.

Question 56

Parole today is a humanistic method of dealing with "reformed" individuals.

Question 57

The term parole comes from a French word that means "word of honor."

Question 58

The philosophical foundation of parole is attributed to Alexander Maconochie.

Question 59

In 2007, it was estimated that 1 million offenders were on parole supervision in American communities.

Question 60

Half of released prisoners are returned to prison for technical violations rather than new crimes.

Question 61

Among parolees, research suggests property offenders have a higher recidivism rate than violent offenders.

Question 62

The mark system as it was originally conceived boasted recidivism rates below 3%.

Question 63

The success rates of parolees are significantly higher than the success rates of probationers, who typically graduate to more serious forms of crime.

Question 64

Typical correctional clients are qualified for no more than low-skill manufacturing jobs.

Question 65

A Bureau of Justice Statistics report (Mumola, 2000) showed that 48% of imprisoned parents were never married, and 28% of those who were ever married were divorced or separated.

Question 66

Parole success in all states is defined as a completed crime-free/technical violation-free period of parole.

Question 67

Some of the individuals living in halfway houses have never been to prison.

Question 68

Halfway houses are more likely to be run by faith-based or nonprofit organizations than formal correctional personnel.

Question 69

Halfway houses may also serve as an intermediate sanction for offenders not sent to prison but needing greater supervision than straight probation or parole.

Question 70

House arrest is similar in function and ideology to halfway houses.

Question 71

The majority of correctional clients currently under house arrest are fitted with electronic monitoring devices.

Question 72

Electronic monitoring requires the use of a satellite to monitor the movements of offenders.

Question 73

Offenders released or placed on electronic monitoring programs are generally positive about their experience.

Question 74

Parole is an extremely common practice in China.

Question 75

Explain the philosophy behind parole. Do you agree or disagree with it? Why or why not?

Question 76

Discuss the major barriers to prisoner reentry.

Question 77

Explain the difference between mandatory and discretionary parole.

Question 78

What is the function of a halfway house? Do you believe these are effective? Why or why not?

Question 79

What is electronic monitoring? Explain a criticism of this practice. Do you agree or disagree with the criticism?

Question 80

Discuss the importance of Alexander Maconochie in the history of parole.