CORRECTIONAL Services describes parole as an integrated part of the penal system, granted when an offender has demonstrated during incarceration that he or she has been rehabilitated.

CORRECTIONAL Services describes parole as an integrated part of the penal system, granted when an offender has demonstrated during incarceration that he or she has been rehabilitated.

The offender must show that he or she is unlikely to be a danger to society and that there is a full awareness of and contrition for the crime committed.

A parole board might approve or recommend that an offender be released on certain conditions.

So parole provides offenders with the incentive to demonstrate their commitment to rehabilitation and also to correcting offending behaviour, which are important elements in their becoming productive citizens.

In South Africa it is referred to as a placement option from prison into the system of community corrections. This means the offender is released from prison before the end of his or her entire sentence to serve the remainder outside prison subject to specific conditions that must be complied with.

This allows the offender to return to normal community life albeit under controlled conditions. - sourced from Correctional Services site