1. Prison to community Circles in South West England
Den Bosch, 14th June PROFESSOR Kieran McCartan

2. Risk management & Prevention
Primary
Raise public awareness of the reality of sexual abuse and dispel common myths about victims and individuals that have committed a sexual offence. Which enables individuals and communities to be better at identifying sexual abuse, risky behaviors and be better able to support people impacted by sexual abuse. Increased education leads to increased awareness and more proactive behavior.
For instance, public education campaigns, bystander intervention, Eradicating Child Sexual Abuse, etc.
Secondary
Enabling “at risk” populations to understand their potential risks, triggers and the potential outcomes of them. This means that they can seek appropriate support and be empowered to seek help. Individuals and communities better understand risk and therefore are better able to help people manage their own (potential) risk.
For instance, Project Prevention Dunkelfeld, Stop SO, Safer Living Foundation, Lucy Faithful, Help Wanted!, Stop It Now!, The Global Prevention Project, etc.
Tertiary
Working with people convicted of sexual offences to hold them accountability for their past problematic behavior, get support and move forward, integrate back into their communities. These interventions move people towards an offense-free lifestyle and encourage desistence. They help people manage their own risk (i.e., treatment programs and interventions).
For instance, treatment programs and interventions for people who have committed sexual abuse, etc
Quaternary
This enables people to successfully integrate back into the community by protecting people from collateral consequences or risk management policies and practices. This is done through supportive integration programs that help the person who has sexually abused, aid their re-entry and support them pro-actively to negative the range of policies and practices that negate their integration.
For instance, Circles of Support and Accountability (UK, Circles 4 EU, Canada, & USA), etc.
McCartan, Prescott & Gotch, 2019

3. Different Models…. Through the gate Community based
Starts in prison ends in the community (Circles South West, HMP Whatton, UK)
Community based
Traditional, community based “good will” model (Canada, California).
Paralleling criminal justice model (UK circles).
Criminal justice system run model (Vermont, Minnesota, The Netherlands).

5. Restorative Justice, reintegration & engagement
‘Heal harms’ and enable the person who has committed a sexual offence to take responsibility for actions.
Safely reintegrate, access to positive social networks and social capital are seen as critical to supporting non offending as well as desistence behaviour .
The idea of the volunteer as the conduit to the community, to positive networks and social capital.
Engage offenders, and engage communities via willing volunteers
3 key strands:
accountability,
safe reintegration,
behaviour change.
McCartan and Kemshall, NOTA Dublin 2015

6. Circles SW
Circles South West was one of 3 winners of the 2019 Robin Corbett Award for Prison Re-integration
“The three winning charities stand as outstanding examples of how organisations can assist prisoners to help themselves” Lady Corbett

7. Through the gate
“Though the gate” provides services for adult males (3-6 months) pre-release, ‘through the gate’ on release, and then on into the community (for another 12 months).
The volunteers are from the community and go into the prison.
Volunteers understand the full Core Member Journey.
Focus on
Building upon treatment interventions;
Starting from a place where the Core Member is at “ease”;
pro-social modelling;
Joined up thinking around release; &
the challenges of transition and community integration.

8. TTG & Circles SW
CIRCLES South West has coordinated 18 Prison/TTG Circles working with HMPs Dartmoor, Channings Wood and Leyhill.
Reflections…
the benefits of ROTL for the CoSA in pre-release phase
Challenges of establishing and setting up TTG in prison and across prisons
Relationship to Transforming rehabilitation agenda
Safeguarding in prisons & access for volunteers
Feedback
“There was a lot of praise for prison circles, which were described as ‘fantastic’ and ‘very helpful’. Feedback from probation officers described circles as ‘really positive’. There appeared to be a need and appetite for these circles, with the relationships built while the core member was still in prison providing additional support for the core member on release” (Final Evaluation Report, RIP, March 2019)
Based on a full-cost recovery model, each CoSA costs around £10,000.

9. Case study
Ran from the start of 2018 until the start of 2019 (slightly over 12 months).
From the start to the end of the Circle, there was a steady decrease in risk…

10. Case study

11. Case study

12. Case study
The Core Member was seen to have relatively low risk in many areas from the start of the circle, but with concerns about there isolation and wellbeing.
The core member self-rated these items as quite poor to begin with, however his wellbeing, social support, and loneliness greatly improved over the course of the circle.
Across multiple measures there were also early indications of risk due to poor community integration.

13. Inside the circle SKY News – Special report: inside the circle
15th April, 2019

14. Through the gate…
In addition we can see that the Through the Gate Circle provides
Desistence
Recovery Capital
The service user voice
Community engagement
Professional/multiagency working
(McCartan & Kemshall, Accepted; McCartan, Harris & Prescott, 2019; McCartan, Kemshall & Hoggett, 2017; McCartan, Merdian et al, 2017)