Giving and getting parole: The changing characteristics of parole in England and Wales

Abstract

This article is written as part of a special issue of the European Journal of Probation, which seeks not simply to describe and to critique ‘parole’ as it has evolved over time, but to focus on the justifications and the actors involved in parole decision-making and supervision. This article explores the changing face of ‘parole’ in England and Wales. The Parole Board today has little in common with the Parole Board of 1967. The characteristics of the prisoners who appear before panels of the Board have also changed. ‘Parole’ is now a very different process, no longer ‘early conditional release’, but what might better be described as ‘delayed conditional release’. This requires a fundamental re-analysis of its purpose and the justifications for its use.