How did the medical model of parole develop? What were its aims, and why did it lose favor?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Parole was seen as a major adjunct to the rehabilitation philosophy that dominated American corrections from the 1930s through the 1960s. This rehabilitative ideal, called the medical model, assumed that criminal behavior had its roots in environmental and psychosocial aspects of the offender's life and that these behaviors could be corrected. This meant that every offender would be dealt with on an individual basis to determine the causes of his or her criminal behavior.Under the old punitive model of corrections, the question was "What did he do?" The medical model was more concerned with why criminals commit crime and what can be done to improve the convict's situation. According to the medical model, if prison staff could diagnose and treat "badness," then the lawbreaker should be released when "cured." The mechanisms for accomplishing this were the indeterminate sentence and parole. The release decision was thus shared between the court, which sets a minimum and a maximum period of incarceration, and the correctional system. The parole board's responsibility was to determine the optimal release time at which the inmate is most ready to reenter the community as a responsible citizen.