Parole Supervision, Change in the Self, and Desistance From Substance Use and Crime (From How Offenders Transform Their Lives, 124-142, 2009, Bonita M. Veysey, Johnna Christian, et al. eds., - See NCJ-229365)

• NCJ Number: 229373
• Author(s): Merry Morash
• Date Published: 2009
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examined whether and how women with histories of crime that were meshed with drug and alcohol histories experienced support for stopping use, disengaging from illegal behaviors, and changing in ways that supported desistance, and the role played by parole officers in change and desistance.

Abstract

The women in this study described helpful relationships with other program participants and with program staff as accepting, warm, and healthy. Collectively this and other studies show that changed self-perception and new social support are part of the process through which women give up drug-oriented lifestyles and drug-use supporting identities. They consistently show the effectiveness of long-lasting, multifaceted, and intensive programming to address women's multiple needs as they become salient over time. A clear connection was shown between supervision and positive changes, and where higher proportions of women described being supported in various stages of abandoning drug use, supervision officers were very directive, exerted controls through sanctions, and monitored many aspects of women's day-to-day lives. Most supervising officers matched women to tailored interventions. The nearly three decades of dramatic increases in the number of women incarcerated was the result, in large part, to the war on drugs and get tough sentencing policies. These increasing numbers of incarcerated women have used illegal drugs or abused alcohol, and experience numerous difficulties upon release. Various parole and community services can provide an alternative to drug use to address negative feelings about self and circumstances, and can help women piece together the elements of a prosocial lifestyle. The study examined how supervision led to positive change in women, and how supervision and program and group experiences shaped change. The study sample was derived from a larger group of all women in two counties who were under supervision because of at least one felony conviction and who began probation or parole between 1997 and 2000. Table, note, and references