The research questioned whether or not the length of incarceration increased; whether parole guidelines were applied consistently in terms of offense, the offender, or both; and whether other predictive factors in the parole process had an impact on the length of incarceration. The offender's use of a weapon during the offense leading to commitment and the offender's history of violence were analyzed to compare parole release decisions both prior to and during objective parole guidelines. Data were collected from official files on a sample of 501 adult male offenders released to parole supervision in 1977, 1978, and 1979. The unit of analysis was the incarcerated offender who was paroled. Study results indicate that offense severity has the most powerful relationship with length of incarceration. While interviews with legislators indicated that the prison programs, particularly treatment, would alter the length of incarceration, study results do not demonstrate this to be the case. Tables, 14 footnotes, and about 180 references are supplied. A technical note is appended.