The Spatial and Temporal Context of Probation and Parole

Abstract

This dissertation uses qualitative and quantitative data to explore how spatial and temporal context shape the experience and administration of probation and parole, the most common forms of criminal justice system supervision in the U.S. today. First, in Chapter 2, I draw on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 60 probation/parole agents working in one Midwestern state in the U.S. to explore how community context shapes community supervision. Comparing places across the rural-urban continuum, I find that, while agents in varied communities across the state view their roles and expectations of their work similarly, in practice, the differing structural and social conditions of rural, semi-urban, and urban counties impact daily operations. Stratified resource availability and access as well as the heterogeneous organization of ties with other criminal justice system actors both impact agents’ work on the ground, ultimately complicating the implementation of statewide policy and practice in counties across the rural-urban continuum. In Chapter 3, I draw on this same set of interviews to examine how macro-level criminal justice policy change is received and navigated by the agents tasked with implementing these changes at the micro level. I show how agents situate these shifts in their daily work within a broader sociopolitical context, and I find heterogeneity in how they respond to new policy implementation, particularly surrounding the (re-)emergence of social work-oriented practices within community supervision. At times, this results in a degree of tension among colleagues, arguably limiting effective policy standardization on the ground. Finally, in Chapter 4, I use administrative data on people under community supervision in the same Midwestern state in the U.S. to assess individual-level and spatial disparities in employment status. I find evidence of rural disadvantage, with people under supervision in the most rural areas experiencing notably lower odds of formal employment relative to people in more urban—but not the most urban—places as well as in counties in the middle of the rural-urban continuum. I also show that Black people and Native people face significantly lower odds of employment than white people. Supplementing this analysis with agent interview data, I highlight the nature of rural disadvantage qualitatively and suggest possible mechanisms underlying the identified spatial disparities.