Examining the Link Between Parole Officers’ Bases of Power and Their Exercise of Power

Abstract

Parole officers are responsible for supervising offenders conditionally released from prisons into communities. This structural arrangement creates a power relationship, with officers’ views providing the foundation for various bases of power and possibly influencing their exercise of discretionary power. This study is an examination of parole officers’ perceptions of their bases of power and whether those perceptions influenced officers’ use of their power to revoke offenders’ parole. Findings revealed that officers identified legitimate and reward power as the primary means by which they gain compliance; however, only legitimate power and expert power were linked to officers’ use of power.