| Though parole release decisions have important implications, to date there has been little research on the factors influencing these decisions; the current study addressed this scarcity. Findings demonstrated that of the three factors investigated---demographic characteristics, cognitive style, and offender type---offender type was virtually the only one related to parole decisions in a sample of 31 parole board members from Canada and New Zealand. Specifically, women offenders were more likely than male offenders to be granted release. Results also demonstrated a moderating effect of perceived likelihood of successful sentence completion on this relationship, most notably for the women and sexual offenders. Finally, the results offered preliminary evidence of the use of decisional heuristics among board members, with case reviews focusing on specific information known to be related to parole outcome. Use of such heuristics, though seemingly adaptive, may have important implications from a legal perspective. |
