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Freedom Waived : A Systematic Review of Research on People in Prison Who Forgo the Opportunity for Release on Parole
Dodd, Shannon Sydes, Michelle
Dodd, Shannon
Sydes, Michelle
Author
Abstract
This paper presents a systematic review of 18 studies about people in prison who forgo the opportunity for parole. Employing a Mixed Methods Research Synthesis, the review encompasses qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies that identify the factors and motivating reasons associated with parole waiver decisions, as well as recidivism outcomes for individuals who decide to forgo parole. Findings reveal a predominance of quantitative research that suggests that individuals who waive parole tend to be high-risk, violent offenders who are serving lengthy sentences. They are male, Indigenous, with a history of mental illness and/or substance addiction, and prior parole experience. Motivating reasons for avoiding parole include perceptions that prison is easier than parole and fear of parole denial and re-entry barriers. Studies also report less favourable recidivism outcomes for ‘maxed-out’ offenders. The study emphasises the necessity for additional in-depth research to understand motives and disincentives influencing parole engagement decisions. In particular, the need for research outside of North America and that uses sources other than administrative data is identified.
Keywords
Prisoner, Parole, Forgo, Waive, Release
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
1-20
Article Number
ACU Department
Thomas More Law School
Faculty of Law and Business
Faculty of Law and Business
Collections
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
File Access
Open
Open
Open
Notes
© The Author(s) 2024.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .