Prison Chief: Kirk can help sex offenders back to society.
The Herald: 27 May 2009 >> article

The Kirk could help reduce the number of victims of abuse by offering sex offenders a role in congregations, the chief inspector of prisons in Scotland told church leaders yesterday.

VIEWPOINT: As the outgoing HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, The Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, speaks with a great deal of authority when he states that “paedophiles are the worst prepared of all prisoners as they leave incarceration”.

In his address to the annual meeting of Kirk commissioners, Dr McLellan said "Any small engagement which congregations can make, recognising the paramount responsibility for those children, to draw sex offenders into normal society and help them towards normal life is a significant and Christian responsibility to public safety and to reducing the number of victims”.

The Church’s view is shared by many authorities that have studied this approach. It is also a widely held view that the worst thing you can do is persecute and marginalise sex offenders, resulting in them being driven underground without monitoring or support.

One such approach known as “Circles of Support and Accountability (Circles)” is a model of intervention that assists in the monitoring and community re-integration of certain sex offenders.

Circles are designed to reduce the risk of re-offending by sex offenders released from prison at the end of their sentences. In so doing they complement formal risk management arrangements in order to assist certain sexual offenders re-integrate into their communities. Circles use trained volunteers, selected, coordinated and supervised by professionals, in order to provide support and monitoring for offenders who are committed to avoiding further offending. Circles have the potential to increase community safety by encouraging and assisting the ex-offender to live an offence free lifestyle as well as informing formal community protection agencies that there may be a danger of relapse.

Circles originated from Canada and have successfully been developed in England and Wales since 2002, where they were pilot funded by the Home Office. In Scotland there has been interest in Circles since 2001. A national Steering Group comprising Police, Social Work, the Scottish Prison Service, voluntary sector charities and faith based organisations, monitors developments in England and Wales and promotes the use of Circles in Scotland. This Steering Group have submitted two proposals, in 2003 and 2007, to the Scottish Government requesting financial support to pilot Circles in Scotland. To date the Government has been unable to commit funding to this initiative. At the present time there are a number of Community Justice Areas and local authorities in Scotland who have expressed an interest in piloting Circles, and discussions are ongoing with these agencies.

The evidence to support Circles as an effective intervention is compelling. Two major studies have taken place to date, one in Canada and one in Thames Valley, England.

The Canadian research found reoffending rates for sexual crimes were 70% lower for a Circles group of 60 offenders in comparison to a closely matched control group. Of any reoffending that did take place, there was a significant drop in the violent nature of the offence. Even better results were seen in England where there was not one conviction for a new sexual offence among a Circles group of 20 offenders. Even more encouraging was the fact that eight of the group were identified by the Circles members as being about to reoffend and the situation was dealt with prior to an offence taking place.

More information about Circles of Support and Accountability can be found at www.circles-uk.org.uk. All enquiries in relation to Circles in Scotland should be forwarded to Keith Simpson, the Chair of the Scottish Circles Steering Group on 0131 624 7263 or ksimpson@national.sacro.org.uk