RESPOND- CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Victor N Fombo

Dec 15 9:03pm

Reply from Victor N Fombo

NURS 8100 Discussion Week 4:

Contextual Factors

My advocacy priority is rehabilitation of ex-convicts. Imagine you owe someone $1000.00. While that debt is owed, I could be referred to as a debtor. After that debt is paid, you will no longer be referred to as a debtor. In the case of ex-convicts, culture has built a case of keeping the ex-convicted somewhat indebted for so long after the debt was paid. As simplistic as this viewpoint about ex-convicts is, this is the reality of what they face. I am not naïve to the fact that some debts cannot be fully paid, lie when life is taken away, or when permanent harm is caused. Nevertheless, when an offender has satisfactorily paid their debt to society, they should be set free indeed. A few contextual factors will promote advocacy for this population on the agenda.      

Contextual Factors in Favor of Advocacy

            First, it is a matter of justice. The ex-convict has served the time stipulated by law. Their debt to society is fully paid. Upon release, however, they find it very hard to find employment. This is because a background check will reveal they have been incarcerated. Companies and society have a culture of avoiding ex-convicts. If society is so concerned about the past of these individuals, rehabilitation should be the next step and not treating them like lepers. If this population is the danger we feel they are to the extent that they cannot be hired, not hiring them leaves them more vulnerable and ‘dangerous’. This creates the danger we fear. Rehabilitation programs like skills training keep them occupied and gives them a sense of purpose and a future to hope for again. Not being able to gain employment is not the worst.

            As though difficulty in finding employment is not enough, ex-convicts that are sex offenders are not allowed to live in some areas especially close to school. This is not simply an issue of culture but that of policy and the law. In Texas, sex offenders are required to register with local law enforcement in accordance with both state and federal law (Texas Department of Public Safety, 2025). If keeping them registered and not allowed to live close to schools is justifiable, what about rehabilitating them? Instead of continuing to deprive this population of freedom, rehabilitating them is the better option. Enrolling them in programs that curb what led them to such acts is the way forward. That will keep society safe. Keeping them far from children does not guarantee keeping children far away from this population. What keeps everyone safe is rehabilitating them.

            The US locks up 50/100.000 people (Verrocchia, 2025). This is not a bad record in comparison to other countries according to same source. Nonetheless, more needs to be done to keep people free from returning to incarceration as the rate of repeat offenders is still concerning (Raines, 2022). To have served time, as tough as it can be, then taking risk again of returning to the same hell from which an ex-convict is freed is reality that questions if the individual here is so bad or some determinants have placed such a person in that circumstance. Rehab programs circumvent most obstacles that increase likelihood of re-offending. Reintegrating this population into society is the most good society can do for them and for society itself. Instead of spending money keeping people locked up, the money should be spent rehabilitating them.

Contextual Factors Against Advocacy

            Culture is the greatest contextual factor against advocating for ex-convicts. Society is not comfortable with sex-offenders, ex-convicts, and people with a bad past. Society would rather have them return to where they came from rather than give them a chance to start anew. If a person has paid his or her debt to society, the person should be rehabilitated and set free, completely free, with full potential to restart. What would it take for society to learn this? It is devastating financially and in many ways to a family when a loved one is put away (Mark, 2025). When finally freed, the chains should fall off completely in like manner as they were completely put away.

            Further, it would take resources to rehabilitate ex-convicts. For those who feel it is a waste of resources doing so, consider how much it would cost not doing so. This is not just about the cost of locking them away (should they return to prison), but the real cost. For example, the fear in families when they learn a sex offender is in their area or simply living in a society in which you do not feel safe. Without rehabilitating this population in some way, society is not without some responsibility for their offences. Consider being out of prison, no one wants to hire you, family does not want you either, you have no income, and you are blocked from one of the most basic civil duties, voting (Raines, 2022). What else is left? Crime begins to appear as the only means of survival. In incarceration, they are sure of shelter and have no fear of being homeless and exposed to the elements. They were sure of food and healthcare. Without reintegrating this population into society, they are homeless, hungry, and need healthcare. Recidivism is likely. Before they return to prison, society would have suffered again. As such, there is more cost in not rehabilitating ex-convicts than in rehabilitating them.

Conclusion

            Contextual factors in advocating for ex-convicts are about the same contextual factors against them. Basically, it depends on mentality about the issue. You could have been surprised about my advocacy and even screamed ‘Really!’. It is okay to hold a contrary opinion. Nevertheless, for someone to have followed through with the punishment advanced by law, with some remediation, the person should be given a chance to reinvent themselves and join others in the community of civility. Incarceration is not too far from anyone. Imagine you could be faced with what ex-convicts face today and join in the advocacy in rehabilitating this population.

References

Martin, K. (2025). Focusing on family finances reveals actual cost of incarceration.  Science Advances,  11(45), eaec7420.  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aec7420Links to an external site.

Raines, J. Z. (2022). Barred for life: How state felony disenfranchisement laws ban elderly ex-cons from the voting booth.  Elder Law Journal,  30(1), 169–229.

Texas Department of Public Safety. (2025). Texas sex offender registration program.  https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/crime-records/texas-sex-offender-registration-programLinks to an external site.

Verrecchia, P. J. (2025). Jailers reckoning: the causes, consequences, and costs of mass incarceration.  Choice, 62(8), 777-778. https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/jailers-reckoning-causes-consequences-costs-mass/docview/3186010445/se-2