Aging on parole: A thematic analysis of the parole officer’s perspective

Authors

Angela Murolo, St. Francis College

Abstract

"A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and younger people on parole. Results indicated that parole officers did perceive differences in working with and supervising younger and older people on parole, but there were no differences in counseling strategies. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses indicated that parole officers perceived older people on parole as requiring more significant assistance with technology and accessing social services. Parole offices also felt older people had better attitudes, greater maturity, and a greater willingness to complete parole successfully. This presents an opportunity for officers and administrators to increase their understanding of issues specific to aging people on parole to increase officer empathy, facilitate easier access to services, and offer age-specific programs to improve reintegration experiences."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Murolo, Angela (2026) "Aging on parole: A thematic analysis of the parole officer’s perspective," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 15: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol15/iss1/2