NCJ Number
205447
Date Published
2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Based on previous research findings that inmates in British prisons who are of South-Asian and Chinese/other ethnicity are more likely to be granted parole than Black or White inmates, the current study was conducted to determine the extent to which these differences reflect the characteristics associated with release rather than the ethnicity of the offender.
Abstract
The study focused on 6,208 parole applications submitted to the Parole Board between April 1999 and March 2000. It found that South-Asian and Chinese/other-ethnicity inmates were more likely than Black or White inmates to have committed offenses that had high release rates onto parole, such as drug offenses; and they were less likely than Black and White inmates to have committed offenses with low rates of release to parole, such as burglary and sex offenses. Also, South-Asian inmates were more likely to have had no or fewer disciplinary adjudications than inmates of other ethnicity; Black inmates were most likely to have had disciplinary adjudications. Inmates held in open prisons were much more likely to be granted parole than inmates elsewhere, and a higher proportion of South Asian and Chinese/other-ethnicity inmates were held in open prisons than Black or White inmates. The researchers constructed a model designed to predict parole decisions based on the combined effect of a large number of factors related to the success of a parole application. Given the study's determination that ethnicity was not a significant factor in parole decisions, the model did not include ethnicity as a component. The model correctly predicted the actual outcome of the parole decision in nearly four out of every five cases. This suggests that variations in parole release rates among ethnic groups can be explained by factors related to risk assessment rather than ethnicity. 2 tables, 5 figures, and 1 references