Mental Illness, Criminal Risk Factors and Parole Release Decisions

Abstract

Research has not examined whether higher rates of parole denial among inmates with mental illness (MI) are the result of the increased presence of criminal risk factors among this population. Employing a representative sample of inmates with (n = 219) and without (n = 184) MI receiving parole release decisions in 2007, this study tested whether the central eight risk factors for recidivism considered in parole release decisions intervened in the relationship between MI and parole release. MI was associated with possession of a substance use disorder, antisocial personality disorder and violent charges while incarcerated; however, these factors were not related to release decisions. MI was found to have neither a direct nor an indirect effect on release decisions. While results indicate that release decisions appear, to some extent, to be evidence-based, they also suggest considerable discretion is being implemented by parole board members in release decisions above and beyond consideration of criminal risk factors.

Mental Health Risk Factors and Parole Decisions: Does Inmate Mental Health Status Affect Who Gets Released

“…With the disproportionate representation of mentally ill in prison, concern about the economic and social consequence of this growing population has led to a vast wealth of research. However, our understanding of mental health status as an independent contributor to parole decision making is both limited and mixed (see [71] 2011 for a more thorough review of the empirical evidence). To provide more insight into this largely unexamined area of parole decision making, we examined specific mental health indicators for their unique contribution in parole decision making net the effects of other factors explaining variation in parole decisions.…”

“…With regard to mental health and its impact on parole, the research is limited, and findings have been inconsistent; some studies found inmates with mental health problems are less likely to be paroled than nonmentally ill inmates [68,69], while others that mental health issues do not appear to impact parole decision making [70,71]. Caplan [56] (2007) conducted a review of the existing literature and found mental health status to have a negative impact on parole decisions and also to be one of the main influential factors on parole decisions.…”

“…As we have seen, there are a variety of static and dynamic factors that may impact parole decisions; offender risk, which encompasses both types of factors (e.g., history of violence and pro-criminal attitudes), is one of the most significant considerations. Matejkowski and his colleagues [71] (2011) examined whether criminal risk factors that are part of the parole board members’ decision-making process intervened in the relationship between mental health and parole release. Findings at the bivariate level showed that the percentage of inmates with mental illness released to parole (44%) was not significantly different from the percentage of inmates without a mental health disorder who received a favorable parole release decision (51%).…”

Studying Parole in the “Spotlight”: Lessons from a Large American Jurisdiction

“…Although inmate performance upon release has received significant attention recently (e.g., Berg and Huebner 2011;Gunnison and Helfgott 2011;Hipp et al 2011;Mallik-Kane and Visher 2008;Naser and Vigne 2006;Schlager and Robbins 2008;Zhang et al 2006;Zgoba et al 2008), such research efforts have not attempted to link studying of parolee performance to parole decisionmaking, as the current study did. As for the parole decision itself, it has been largely neglected in the contemporary criminal justice literature, with only a handful of studies addressing possible determinants and underlying processes (Caplan 2007(Caplan , 2011Hannah-Moffat and Yule 2011;Huebner and Bynum 2008;Matejkowski et al 2011;Morgan and Smith 2008;Roberts 2009). Lastly, the current research also contributes evidence related to other, broader themes in the criminological and criminal justice literature.…”

Legal Ruralism and California Parole Hearings: Space, Place, and the Carceral Landscape*

“…The majority of extant work on parole decisions is quantitative, documenting the factors correlated with parole outcomes, including inmate race, mental illness, and in‐prison behavior (e.g., Matejkowski et al 2011; Mooney and Daffern 2014; Morgan and Smith 2008; Weisberg, Mukamal, and Segall 2011; Young, Mukamal, and Favre‐Bulle 2016). A few notable exceptions examine hearings' social dynamics from a qualitative perspective.…”