The United States’ systems of parole and probation are, by and large, failing to promote public safety and failing to rehabilitate the millions of people that they supervise; in fact, probation and parole in America often causes harm to individuals, and to their families and communities. Special editors David J. Harding, Bruce Western, and Jasmin A. Sandelson present new research from contributing authors on the performance of community supervision and argue for wholesale reforms that would repurpose resources into improved support for parolees, probationers, and the broader communities of which they are a part. They focus on building stability, opportunity, and pathways to upward mobility for the formerly incarcerated and for the other Americans who are or have been under the supervision our criminal justice system.
