Projects per year
Abstract
Recent Australian reforms to parole following high-profile violations are premised on a purported public desire for greater restrictions on the use of parole. These changes reflect the tendency of legislatures to presume that the public is largely punitive and invoke a ‘forfeiture’ of rights rationale that weakens support for offender rehabilitation. We consider whether restricting parole is based on a sound reading of public views. Drawing on a national study of public opinion on parole in Australia, we use a latent variable approach to look for distinct patterns in attitudes to parole and re-entry. We also examine what factors explain these patterns. The results support the conclusion that appealing to a public belief in offenders’ ability to change may be the most effective way to increase public confidence in parole systems.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 169-186 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Criminology & Criminal Justice |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- Forfeiture
- latent class analysis
- parole
- public opinion
- redeemability
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Parole in crisis? Public opinion on the use of parole
Fitzgerald, R., Bartels, L., Cherney, A. & Freiberg, A.
Australian Research Council (ARC)
27/03/15 → 31/12/19
Project: Research