Why has the rate of revocation increased in recent years?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. With the increase in rate of violations in recent years, research has been undertaken to discover the underlying causes of parole and probation revocations. One reason involves a lower threshold for behavior tolerated before revocation occurs (White, Mellow, Englander, & Ruffinengo, 2011). Another reason is an increase in the average number of offenders that each officer supervises, which leads to more stress and offers less face-to-face contact. Officers spend less quality time with offenders and more time on rule enforcement and paperwork. A third reason is that parolees and probationers alike have more parole conditions imposed and thus more ways to violate. A probationer/parolee has an average of 19 conditions to follow, ranging from 10 to 24 (Travis & Stacey, 2010). An increased number of conditions means that offenders experience more pressure to perform and to try to meet all those conditions. Fourth, with advances in drug testing technology, more drug use is now detected. Finally, increase in data sharing and technology makes it possible to determine a more accurate and thorough accounting of recidivism rates in other states. In a nationwide study, one out of four released prisoners had at least one out-of-state arrest prior to his or her conviction, and out-of-state arrests accounted for 10% of all previous arrests for this group (Durose, Snyder, & Cooper, 2015). This is also an example of how mobile of a society we have become, even when it comes to committing crimes in multiple states.