Racial Identity, Length of Incarceration, and Parole Decision Making

Abstract

Previous research has disclosed significant differences in the severity of sentences imposed on black and white offenders. This study investigated racial differences in black-white sentence patterns at the final stage of the criminal justice process, focusing on the actual amount of time served and the frequen cy of parole in a sample of 958 youthful offenders from a cohort of 1,345 consecutive admissions to a federal correctional institution. No racial differences were found in the actual amount of time served, but a significantly higher percentage of whites than blacks were granted parole. Blacks who were granted parole served a smaller portion of their sentences than did whites who were granted parole, but nonparoled blacks served a greater portion than did nonparoled whites. Discriminant function analysis did not show race to be significantly associated with decision to grant parole; instead, the primary factor was the entry sentence, with offenders sentenced to relatively short terms (less than eighteen months) being paroled less fre quently than those with longer terms. Since blacks were more likely to have the shorter sentences, the racial difference in percentage granted parole was partly attributable to the severity of the sentence imposed originally. Examination of thirteen offender variables reflecting personal and social history, legal factors, and institutional adjustment measures revealed signifi cant differences between paroled and nonparoled inmates but not between racial groups. Further discriminant analysis of factors associated with parole within black and white subsamples indicated that, of the thirteen variables examined, entry sentence, violence of offense, and adult maladjustment and deviance were significantly associated with likelihood of parole for both racial groups. Institutional adjustment also appeared to play an important role in decisions regarding blacks, while variables relating to personal and social ad justment before incarceration seemed to be more important among whites. It is speculated that the observable overrepresentation of blacks in penal and other correctional institutions is attributable to decisions made earlier in the criminal justice process, rather than to biased parole-granting procedures, at least in this federal institution. Further research on possible interaction of social deficits and criminal justice decision making instead of race and sen tence severity is suggested.