Conditions under which probation and parole officers initiate official action on male and female clients

Contemporary writers are beginning to discuss differential treatment of men and women within the criminal justice system. Freda Adler (1973: 240) remarked that the criminal justice system, as a result of its differential treatment of men and women, "serves the woman ill, sometimes well, but always serves the criminal justice system poorly." Adler is referring to the differential treatment of males and females in the area of arrest, court practices, sentencing, prison and jail, and some community-based after-care programs, such as work release. This research will focus on that area of the criminal justice system which has been ignored, the adult probation and parole system.

This study is an exploratory research project looking directly at the traditional images of men and women as a factor which may determine the course of the probation and parole experience. The constant comparative method was utilized as the method of data analysis. For this exploratory investigation, violation reports for the years 1975, 1976, and 1977 were examined. Interviews with thirteen probation and parole officers were conducted for the purpose of interpretation of patterns that arose in the comparisons.

Comparisons were made to determine if differences in revocation patterns could be related to the support of contemporary sex roles in society. Differential role expectations were explored in the areas of criminal behavior and technical violation. Of particular interest were the structurally determined differences in opportunity to commit crimes for males and females. Role expectations concentrated on the areas of parenting, employment, moral conduct, alcohol and drug involvements, and associates. The violation reports revealed that men were violated primarily for the new felony arrest of burglary and larceny. Technical violations were predominately for absconding and failure to work. The possession of a weapon, use of an automobile, and use of alcohol were related to the new arrest for males. On the other hand females were violated primarily for shoplifting and forgery. Technical violations were primarily for absconding and associates.

Probation and parole officers' perceptions of roles of men and women were found to be a factor in the revocation process. Additional factors related to the nature and rates of revocation of males and females were structurally determined factors related to sex roles, discretion of law enforcement agencies, discretion of judges and parole boards, and bureaucratic demands. The general conclusion of this research project is that this area should be explored in future research projects, since sex role criteria has been ignored in previous studies of revocation. This project magnified the scope of discretionary powers of probation and parole officers based on their attitudes and perceptions of male and female clients. . Future research should not ignore these powers as a variable effecting the probation and parole client's experience within this system.