Circles of support and accountability: Rebuilding community for high risk sexual offenders

Source: (2001) Paper presented at the Restorative and Community Justice: Inspiring the Future conference, held in Winchester, England, 28-31 March.

Public sentiment and legislative actions in Canada and other countries reflect a high degree of fear and intolerance of sexual offenders. Hence, when incarcerated sexual offenders are eventually released from prison after serving their term, there is often little or no community support to aid successful reentry into society and prevent re-offending. Against this background, the authors of this presentation outline a model for community-based risk management – namely, circles of support and accountability. Their analysis focuses on practical aspects of providing support and accountability through this model (recruitment of volunteers, liability, ethics, and efficacy) for high-risk sexual offenders.