Probation and Parole Officers' Perspectives on Racial Equity in the Criminal Legal System

Racial inequities and disparities are present at every decision point within the criminal legal system including community corrections. To address racial disparities, probation, and parole agencies around the U.S. have begun to prioritize racial equity to address and reduce the racial disparities in aversive sanctions and outcomes. Current conceptual models of racial equity are insufficiently conceptualized for community corrections, however. This study seeks to articulate a conceptual framework of racial equity to influence policy and practice in probation and parole. Moreover, this study seeks to amplify the voices of probation and parole officers whose perspectives are inadequately represented in the literature. This study aimed to answer the following two questions 1. How do probation/parole officers define racial equity? 2. How does probation/parole officers' definition of racial equity inform their day-to-day supervision practices? Using a grounded theory approach, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with probation and parole officers within the United States and Canada. Interviews lasted 60 minutes and drew upon the perspectives of the probation and parole officers.Through reflexive thematic analysis and open coding, researchers' biases and perspectives were recognized within the analysis and interpretation of the data. Our analysis point to three overarching perspectives on racial equity: color-blind practices, individualized intervention practices, and race-conscious practices. Color-blind practices focused on the individual behaviors of people on probation and emphasized accountability through punitive sanctions. Individualized intervention practices focused on tailoring supervision practices to the individual needs of the person, risk assessments, and fair sanctioning. While race-conscious practices utilized discretion in sanctioning and intervention planning, incorporating cultural healing and advocacy. Despite the type of supervision practices, all groups shared a similar definition of racial equity as a focus on equality in sanctions, showing their clients respect, and focusing on the quality and availability of resources. The implications of this study are to expand the measure of racial equity practices within community corrections to include more than outcomes of disparate sanctions. Inclusion of race-conscious practices that promote open discussion about race among colleagues and clients, including appropriate cultural healing practices throughout the supervision process and the increased use of discretion to meet the client's individual needs. Implications also include the need for further research to create a conceptual framework of racial equity within the context of community supervision from those who are impacted by the day-to-day supervision practices to address the racial disparities currently present.