Victim Impact Testimony and Pennsylvania's Parole Decision Making Process: A Pilot Study*

While several states now permit victim participation in the parole process, little research exists concerning the extent, nature, and consequences of such involvement. During Fall 1991, the authors examined a random sample of 1989 parole cases decided by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole in which victim testimony was proferred (experimental group), and a random sample of cases in which such testimony was not presented (comparison group). Decisional outcomes were compared between the experimental and comparison groups to determine the impact of victim testimony on the parole decisionmaking process in Pennsylvania. A significant difference was found between the groups—higher refusal rates were found in the victim testimony group despite comparable parole objective guidelines predictions, offender demographics, and offenses.