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Please click on link to access the first national Circles newsletter The movement for Circles of Support is fast moving up the political agenda. Alongside it are calls for Megan/Sarah's Law where convicted sex offenders are 'outed' and their names and addresses are made public. Circles of Support offer a much safer and long-lasting way of working with sex ofenders in the community. Regionally there is a Circles of Support steering group meetinge ach month in York and anational steering group is forming in London. Nationally there are 30,000 on the sex offender register so Circles of Support have a great part to play in making the community a safer place. On the front page with Sam
(article from Church of Engalnd newspaper)
Who among us hasn’t wrung our hands in despair as we have looked at head-lines screaming for the harsher treatment of asylum seekers, muggers and paedophiles and wondered if there is a Christian response to all of this in a present climate of fear where a paediatrician is beaten up because someone couldn’t spell properly.
“Lock ‘em up and throw away the key” is the easy thing to say in response to the terrible crimes which fill us all with grief and shame. But there is always a human dimension to the banner head-lines, be it the illegal immigrant who wants to be deported but cannot get out of the prison holding him due to Home Office bureaucracy or the first time sex offender who hates what he has done and wants to confront his actions and rebuild his life. The strident demands for a British equivalent to Megan’s Law urgently require Christians to think through the issues and make a Christian response.
Prisons are over full of sex offenders. At HMP Doncaster most of a 90 bed wing houses sex offenders waiting to move on to other prisons where they will be able to take part in Sex Offender Treatment Programmes. The dispersal prisons are also full and places on treatment programmes take months and sometimes years to access. There is much hopelessness. The age profile of sex offenders is higher than that of the general prison population with the result that sex offenders stand out in prison and are very vulnerable to assault and insult. They are the new lepers and yet society is deeply hypocritical on this issue. We have tolerated the creep of soft pornography into every area of life, the fashion business encourages young people as young as eight to dress in revealing clothes and then we wring our hands in despair when a sizeable portion of society begins to behave in a sexually inappropriate way. There are 30,000 people on the sex offenders’ register and let us not forget that amongst them are doctors, teachers, clergy, members of the judiciary, and policemen, that the proportion of predatory paedophiles is relatively small and that 80%of child sex offences take place in the context of the home.
Jesus touched lepers and ate and drank with them. So that is a good place in which to start. Ten years ago a group of Christians in Canada decided to support a sex offender being released after a long sentence in prison. Their support attracted loud and violent protests from the neighbourhood where the man was going to settle. Someone leaked to the Press the name of the street where the man was living and within hours every street light had a photocopy of his picture stuck to it. Should the church invite Sam to join it? Harry, the group’s leader, had had his photo with Sam on the front page of the local paper. Nevertheless the church persisted and with growing co-operation from the Police and Public Protection agencies proved that a Circle of Support and Accountability can mean that for one sex offender, at least, there would be no more victims. This was not some pleasant Christian tea party but a group determined to address tough and painful issues with much courage and determination. Alongside the accountability came friendship, laughter, socialising and real human and spiritual growth. Sex offenders are lonely people. The internet has made it far easier to indulge in sexual behaviour but alone and in private, an accountable group counteracts this.
“No more victims” has become the motto of Circles of Support. A growing consensus accepts that the ‘outing’ of sex offenders and the public naming and shaming of individuals inevitably drives sex offenders to do the exact opposite of what is required, namely to disappear and deny their offending behaviour. Currently 3% of the 30,000 offenders on the register are unaccounted for, a public exposure would increase this number and make it nearly impossible for rehabilitation to take place.
So what does reduce the risk? Accountability. One sex offender told me just recently that his activity was essentially a lonely one. Accountability to a group means that you have to account for your actions or seek help when you feel yourself drifting again. Perhaps one of the malaises of much of western church life is a lack of accountability where believers can float around congregations, access God over the internet and mix with people who have the same tastes. Even traditional churches encourage individuality and this is fatal for sex offenders and their rehabilitation.
The concept of Circles of Support and Accountability has moved to this country and is being piloted by probation services and the Quakers in the south of England with good success. In Hampshire and the Thames Valley forty Circles of Support have seen only two ex-offenders returned to prison.
A champion of the system is the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which is the only organisation in this country, which works exclusively with sex offenders. They have received Home Office funding to set up other circles around the country.
How does the system work?
Ideally before a sex offender is released from prison he is identified as being willing to be a core member in a Circle. Four or five potential members of the circle are identified, and vetted. They receive some detailed training from the Foundation. At one of the first meetings the offender makes full disclosure to the group of his offences. A trained therapist and Foundation worker support the early meetings of the circle that take place weekly in the early months. The offender’s Probation Officer, Police Liaison Officer and hostel key worker are closely involved in the process as the Circle, whilst being a support group for the offender, also has a role of reporting any likelihood of offending behaviour. The Circles are also encouraged to meet together socially so the hard grind of working through painful issues is softened by times of enjoyment and socialising. All this lessens the sense of alienation and isolation that the sex offender has learnt as part of his life-style and always the over-riding consideration is, “No more victims”.
Members of circles are drawn from across society but members of faith groups feature prominently as they did with the Canadian experiment. For Christians it provides an opportunity to touch the leper, to speak the truth in love and as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13 “When I come again I will not be easy with you….look closely at yourselves,…. we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong, We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth…. we pray that you will become complete.” Who was he writing to amongst others? You will find the answer in Chapter 12 verse 21: Those who have committed sexual sins and done shameful things.
So, are Circles some soft, ‘do-gooder’ option? Do they ignore the devastating pain of victims and their families. The answer is a most definite ‘no’ but just perhaps they provide a solution to a problem that will not be going away and without a clear direction towards rehabilitation not retribution will continue to grow and create more victims. We cannot lock sex offenders away forever and throw away the key. At some time in their sentence be it on parole at the end of their allotted time in prison they will return to society. What will we do then?
Philip Ireson
Website www.lucyfaithfull.co.uk 01372 847183
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