Neely Tucker

Not only has the U.S. prison population dramatically increased in recent years, so has the number of Americans on parole or probation, which reached a record high of 4.5 million in 2000. In the following viewpoint, Washington Post staff writer Neely Tucker contends that parole can succeed as an alternative to imprisonment. He claims that fewer ex- inmates are relapsing into cycles of crime. Key to keeping ex-inmates from returning to prison, he contends, are programs that assist them in rebuilding their lives when they are released. Tucker insists that services adopting a “social-work attitude” toward ex-inmates are most successful, such as job placement and anger management programs.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Tucker, how did the rate of parole violations in Washington, D.C. change between 1998 and 2000"
2. How does...