Probation Vs Parole

Probation and parole are two major factors of the criminal justice system. They are often confused and viewed as the same thing. They are different but they have their similarities. These two critical aspects of the corrections system both have pros and cons that affect society in multiple ways. Some of these pros and cons are more extreme than others, but nonetheless, they are all important factors that play important roles in our society. These pros and cons are reasons that probation and parole are two aspects of the criminal justice system that are under constant observation and look to make changes to better these systems in order to further benefit society as a whole. Understanding the pros and cons that probation and parole have on our

Probation is defined as “a community punishment that requires the offender to comply with certain court-ordered conditions, such as curfew or attendance at a day reporting center, and may subject him or her to various levels of supervision based on public safety and rehabilitative needs” (Abadinsky, 2017, pp. 389). In a more simple way, probation is a punishment given to a criminal offender that allows them to serve a different punishment than prison time. The rules and specifics that come with probation can change from case to case. It is a system that adjusts to the offenders specific needs. Some common elements implemented into probation is electronic monitoring and drug screening. Electronic monitoring is used to keep constant track of where people on probation are so that the probation/parole officer can keep track of them. Drug screening is when these people on probation are required to be part of drug tests in order to prove that they are not on any drugs. One part of probation that is constant in every case is that they are all supervised. The idea

Studies have shown that the average yearly cost for an inmate is $35,353. This is a very large sum compared to the low price of $1,938. $1,938 is the average yearly cost for supervision of people on probation and parole (“North Carolina Department of Public Safety,” 2018). This is an extremely beneficial aspect of probation and parole. It is much cheaper for people to be placed on probation and given parole instead of spending so much time in jail. This is the pro that these two aspects of the criminal justice system share that can arguably be viewed as the biggest pro that they both provide to