Risk Is Not a Property of the Person: A Structural Model of Parole

This paper reframes parole not as a behavioral management problem but as a structural and moral one, grounded in the distinction between orientation and action. Drawing on Relational Structuralism (RS), it argues that the moral boundary in human agency lies at the level of orientation—what a person is toward—rather than at the level of discrete behaviors. The paper analyzes how current parole systems collapse this distinction, producing predictable failure modes, misaligned incentives, and structural injustice. By modeling parole as a relational system shaped by constraints, incentives, and identity persistence, the paper offers a new framework for understanding rehabilitation, compliance, and moral growth. This work is part of the broader RS project, which seeks to clarify how meaning, agency, and moral structure emerge from relational dynamics rather than isolated events.