Over the past four decades, probation and parole has undergone tremendous shifts in its ideological stance toward offenders and conceptions of justice. The main ideologies have been offender rehabilitation (late 1960’s to mid-1970’s); offender punishment (mid-1970’s to early 1980’s); intermediate sanctions, punishments, and treatment interventions (mid-1980’s to late 1990’s); and the current community involvement, interagency collaboration, and offender re-entry paradigm (late 1990’s to 2002). Regardless of the ideological flavor of the year, the profession seems to direct its goals toward some combination of crime prevention, public safety, justice, and restoration. The article discusses the benefits of the business model, as it is applied to probation and parole. The business model emphasizes outcomes over processes, and grounds practice in data showing the effectiveness of programs. The business model encourages probation and parole to base policies and practice on research evidence, especially concerning offender recidivism under different models of probation and parole. The article also discusses how public opinion influences how probation and parole goes about its business. Taxpayer satisfaction and opinion must be balanced with polices and programs that have been demonstrated to reduce recidivism. Suggestions are offered for an organizational model for probation and parole that includes ongoing program evaluation focusing on benefits versus costs. Without a focus on outcomes, probation and parole may be doomed to recycle through the ideological jumping of its past.