Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study examines racial disparity at two key decision-making points: a probation officer's decision to file a petition to revoke (PTR) and a judge's decision to revoke probation. We use data from 4,111 probation clients in one midwestern probation agency that has a long-standing commitment to evidence-informed practices, including reducing racial disparity. Although results do not find racial disparity in probation revocations, results show persistent disparity in officers' filing of PTRs that are most prominent at the lowest levels of supervision, between White clients and those identifying with other racial or ethnic identities. After an extensive list of key predictors and interactions with race is included, we are still unable to account for what underlies racial disparity; this suggests unseen systemic or social structural barriers may contribute to racial disparities in PTR filings, even in agencies committed to reducing disparities. Implications for probation policy and practice are discussed.

Keywords

probation structural factors racial disparity revocations risk level

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Boppre

Sundt

Browne

G. E.

(2024). Examining “mass probation” through an intersectional lens: The intracategorical effects of race and ethnicity on women and men’s probation outcomes in Kansas. Crime & Delinquency, 70(4), 1332–1360. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221141958

Breno

A. J.

Bhati

VanDeinse

Murphy

Cuddeback

G. S.

Taxman

F. S.

(2023). Effective probation strategies to respond to signals of poor progress on community supervision. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 50(8), 1140–1162. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231165278

Burlew

McCuistian

Szapocznik

(2021). Racial/ethnic equity in substance use treatment research: The way forward. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 16(1), 50. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-021-00256-4

Busenbark

J. R.

Graffin

S. D.

Campbell

R. J.

Lee

E. Y.

(2022). A marginal effects approach to interpreting main effects and moderation. Organizational Research Methods, 25(1), 147–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428120976838

Dagenhardt

D. M. R.

(2020). The influence of race, gender, family, and employment status on probationer sanctioning for noncompliance. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 18(3), 185–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2020.1749746

Dir

A. L.

Magee

L. A.

Clifton

R. L.

Ouyang

Wiehe

S. E.

Aalsma

M. C.

(2021). The point of diminishing returns in juvenile probation: Probation requirements and risk of technical probation violations among first-time probation-involved youth. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 27(2), 283–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000282

Fox

Harrison

Hothersall

Smith

Webster

(2022). A rapid evidence assessment of the impact of probation caseloads on reducing recidivism and other probation outcomes. Probation Journal, 69(2), 138–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505211025595

Gould

L. A.

Pate

Sarver

(2011). Risk and revocation in community corrections: The role of gender. Probation Journal, 58(3), 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/0264550511409966

Gray

K. M.

Fields

Maxwell

S. R.

(2001). Examining probation violations: Who, what, and when. Crime and Delinquency, 47(4), 537–557. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128701047004003

10.

Hicks

W. D.

Holcomb

J. E.

Alexander

M. A.

Clodfelter

T. A.

(2020). Drug testing and community supervision outcomes. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(4), 419–436. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819898219

11.

Breaux

Jannetta

Lamb

(2014). Examining racial disparities in the sixth judicial district of Iowa’s probation revocation outcomes. Urban Institute, pp. 1–10. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/22741/413173-Examining-Racial-Disparities-in-the-Sixth-Judicial-District-of-Iowas-Probation-Revocation-Outcomes

12.

Hyatt

J. M.

Barnes

G. C.

(2017). An experimental evaluation of the impact of intensive supervision on the recidivism of high-risk probationers. Crime & Delinquency, 63(1), 3–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128714555757

13.

Jannetta

Breaux

Porter

(2016). Examining racial and ethnic disparities in probation revocation: Summary findings and implications from a multisite study. Urban Institute, pp. 1–15. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/examining-racial-and-ethnic-disparities-probation-revocation

14.

Jegede

Bellamy

Jordan

(2024). Systemic racism as a determinant of health inequities for people with substance use disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(3), 225. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.4958

15.

Jordan

K. L.

Bowman

(2022). Interacting race/ethnicity and legal factors on sentencing decisions: A test of the liberation hypothesis. Corrections, 7(2), 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/23774657.2020.1726839

16.

Kaeble

(2023). Probation and parole in the United States, 2021 (No. 305589; Probation and Parole Populations). U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/probation-and-parole-united-states-2021

17.

Klingele

(2013). Rethinking the use of community supervision. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 103(4), 1015–1070. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2232078

18.

Kluckow

Zeng

(2022). Correctional populations in the United States, 2020 (No. NCJ 303184; Statistical Tables, p. 14). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus20st.pdf

19.

Kohler-Hausmann

(2019). Eddie murphy and the dangers of counterfactual causal thinking about detecting racial discrimination. Northwestern University Law Review, 113(5), 1163–1228. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/8y9em_v1

20.

Linhorst

D. M.

Dirks-Linhorst

P. A.

Groom

(2012). Rearrest and probation violation outcomes among probationers participating in a jail-based substance-abuse treatment used as an intermediate sanction. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 51(8), 519–540. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2012.702713

21.

Long

J. S.

Mustillo

S. A.

(2021). Using predictions and marginal effects to compare groups in regression models for binary outcomes. Sociological Methods & Research, 50(3), 1284–1320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124118799374

22.

Lowder

E. M.

Northcutt Bohmert

Diaz

C. L.

Ying

Grommon

Hatfield

(2022). Patterns of compliance and noncompliance during probation: Identifying pathways to probation revocation. Crime & Delinquency, 71(1), 35–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221143942

23.

Mize

T. D.

Doan

Long

J. S.

(2019). A general framework for comparing predictions and marginal effects across models. Sociological Methodology, 49(1), 152–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081175019852763

24.

Morash

(2024). In a box: Gender-responsive reform, mass community supervision, and neoliberal policies. University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/books/in-a-box/paper

25.

Morash

Kashy

D. A.

Smith

S. W.

Cobbina

J. E.

(2019). Technical violations, treatment and punishment responses, and recidivism of women on probation and parole. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 30(5), 788–810. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403417723425

26.

Okonofua

J. A.

Saadatian

Ocampo

Ruiz

Oxholm

P. D.

(2021). A scalable empathic supervision intervention to mitigate recidivism from probation and parole. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018036118

27.

Olson

D. E.

Lurigio

A. J.

(2000). Predicting probation outcomes: Factors associated with probation rearrest, revocations, and technical violations during supervision. Justice Research and Policy, 2(1), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.2.1.2000.73

28.

Pettit

Gutierrez

(2018). Mass incarceration and racial inequality. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3–4), 1153–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12241

29.

Phelps

M. S.

(2017). Mass probation: Toward a more robust theory of state variation in punishment. Punishment & Society, 19(1), 53–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474516649174

30.

Phelps

M. S.

(2020). Mass probation from micro to macro: Tracing the expansion and consequences of community supervision. Annual Review of Criminology, 3(1), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-011419-041352

31.

Rodriguez

Webb

V. J.

(2007). Probation violations, revocations, and imprisonment: The decisions of probation officers, prosecutors, and judges pre- and post-mandatory drug treatment. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 18(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403406292956

32.

Romain

D. M.

Krushas

A. E.

(2022). Examining the interaction of race and probationer noncompliance on sanctioning decisions. Race and Justice, 12(2), 231–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368719873022

33.

Rose

E. K.

(2021). Who gets a second chance? Effectiveness and equity in supervision of criminal offenders. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 136(2), 1199–1253. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjaa046

34.

Ross

Willson

V. L.

(2017). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis using at least two sets of variables (in two blocks). In Ross

Willson

V. L.

(Eds.), Basic and advanced statistical tests (pp. 61–74). SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6351-086-8_10

35.

Rucker

J. M.

Richeson

J. A.

(2021). Toward an understanding of structural racism: Implications for criminal justice. Science, 374(6565), 286–290. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj7779

36.

Ruhland

E. L.

Holmes

Petkus

(2020). The role of fines and fees on probation outcomes. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(10), 1244–1263. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820918877

37.

Ruhland

E. L.

Scheibler

(2021). Probation officer discretion in monitoring and violating supervision conditions. Probation Journal, 69(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505211041578

38.

Saunders

Midgette

(2023). A test for implicit bias in discretionary criminal justice decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 47(1), 217–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000520

39.

Steinmetz

K. F.

Henderson

(2016). Inequality on probation: An examination of differential probation outcomes. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 14(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2015.1030527

40.

Tapia

Harris

P. M.

(2006). Race and revocation. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 4(3), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1300/J222v04n03_01

41.

Turner

H. C.

Scheyett

A. M.

Allen

L. D.

(2022). Legal and extralegal factors associated with success on misdemeanor probation. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10(3), 257–272. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.103019

42.

Wilson

(2023). Probation and parole revocations: Reviewing over two decades of revocation decisions in the United States. Criminal Justice Review, 50(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/07340168231170335

Racial Disparities in Probation: Examining Officers’ Filing Practices and Judicial Revocation Decisions

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References