Introduction
The Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) model for high risk as well as high need sexual offenders in Canada started in 1994 as one of the grassroots efforts in addressing the challenges that were posed by the release of high need and high risk sexual offenders with no or little support as well as opportunities for safe reintegration (In Wright, 2015). Therefore, the objective of CoSA is to reduce the risk of sexual reoffending among individuals. The paper purposes to discuss the achievements of the model which make it suitable for the reduction of risk of re-offending for youth and adults who commit sexual offenses
An Overview of Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) Model
The CoSA model is composed of two concentric circles which include the inner and the outer circle (Hanvey, Philpot & Wilson, 2011). The inner circle consists of a released sexual offender usually called a core member as well as four to six supported and trained volunteers from a community. On the other hand, the outer circled is composed of professionals from local communities who have expert knowledge on matters to do with sexual offenders as well as risk management. Notably, the volunteers to CoSA activities play an instrumental role in offering support as well as an accountability framework for the offenders, which always mimic the sort of friendly and family relationships that are enjoyed by those who are not offenders in the society (Hannem & Petrunik, 2007). One of the key differences between the outer and inner circle is that the former is available to ensure the provision of professional consultation and training to the inner circle which is crucial for the success of the program.
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Although the model was started in Canada more than twenty years ago, it has been adopted to a large extent by the United Kingdom for more than a decade as well as in the United States and other world jurisdictions (Hanvey et al., 2011). A wide range of studies have shown that the model is instrumental in reducing the risk of sexual reoffending by almost seventy percent compared to those sexual offenders who may not be getting the services under CoSA.
In ensuring that the program is effective, the volunteers must be aware of the background and particular issues or situations of the core member as well as the intention of helping them to negotiate the development changed-behavior that is free of offense (Hannem, 2013). In this way, core members should also agree to permit the volunteer members to access their criminal records as well as files to make sure that the circle is able to assess one’s history and the risks that the same individual poses to members of the society. In this case, a covenant or an agreement is developed and drawn and signed by all members with specifications of the obligations of each person to the other including the principles that need to be followed. In Circles, the confidentiality of information being shared is important (Hannem & Petrunik, 2007). In most cases, Circles meet initially on a weekly basis to have a plan for the following week as well as discussing the activities of the core member in the previous week. However, individual members are required to have a meeting with their core members every day in order to help in different ways including talking about one’s progress. The members are tasked with listening to the concerns of the individual and assisting him to create a constructive solution as well as holding him accountable for lapses in judgment among other responsibilities.
Effectiveness of CoSA Model
The releasing of offenders who have committed sexual offences to the society or community has been raising concerns among different stakeholders but mostly among professionals in the criminal justice, lawmakers, as well as the entire society (Wilson et al., 2007). In Canada, in the last thirty years, attempts to change legislation have been made to limit sexual offenders release movement and opportunities as well as giving longer sentences, registration and notification, lifetime probation, and application of GPS monitoring. Connectively, the science and argument behind such measures have remained too questionable while at the same time, some emerging reports have suggested that some measures can lead to more harm than the expected good. Most importantly, critics have argued that some efforts touching on risk management have created greater social isolation and ostracism for offenders, which are associated with increased risk. However, against these backdrops, efforts have been applied in ensuring that restorative practice and justice has been injected making sure that for released sexual offenders, there is assurance of high reintegration potential.
In this way, the (CoSA) model has played critical roles in not only reducing and managing the risk of sexual reoffending but also ensuring the reintegration of sexual offenders back to the communities (Wilson et al., 2007). Therefore, CoSA model has been applied as a community risk-management strategy since it prioritizes change of behavior for the core members in different Circles. Evidently, without CoSA, it is likely that sexual offenders would highly be marginalized by other community members, risking their lives as well. For instance, two sexual offenders who had similar histories of a sexual offenses, as well as risk levels, were released to their communities in the eastern Ontario after six months. After their release, one of the offenders was introduced to the CoSA and the police later determined that it was relevant to issue a community notification that was related to this person. On the other hand, the other offender did not join the CoSA program, which made the police to release his photograph and name to the community leading to public harassment, outcry as well as demand for him to be rearrested or leave the community (Hannem & Petrunik, 2007). Based on this example, it is clear that participation in the CoSA can help in changing the public and police perception of risk enabling the sexual offenders to live with community members with no fear that he may be ostracized or “outed”.
The CoSA has also helped in changing the entire behavior patterns of individuals (Wilson et al., 2007). The circle model recognizes explicitly that the offender has been engaged in unacceptable behavior to the Canadians and that he or she may not be willing or able to avoid harmful and risky behaviors without being offered support, assistance as well as surveillance. Critically to note is that the role of the circles is not only to help the core members in making decisions about potentially risky behaviors but also regulate one’s conduct until the individual member and other members are satisfied that the individual has changed enough to make responsible choices and there is no possibility of causing harm to others or himself. For example, under the “circle” model, the core members discuss daily dilemma with the volunteers as well as asking questions such as where one can go swimming, get welfare/disability check among others (Hannem & Petrunik, 2007). In discussing these kinds of questions with the members of the circle, the core member rationalizes and receives support that he or she needs in taking a specific action thus reducing the risk of reoffending.
Further, CoSA has addressed the issue of reoffending by ensuring that the offenders are voluntarily consenting to be personally responsible for the bad behaviors in the society unlike in their previous situations (Hannem & Petrunik, 2007). Accepting mistake as a member of the society or a community is one way of allowing volunteers to help an individual in changing a specific type of behavior. Notably, core members accept to be held accountable for their mistakes by the volunteers who are also members of a program financed by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) as well as being responsible for not only the police but also to the community. In this way, the volunteers are able to ensure that the core member sticks to the norms and order of the community in which one is being integrated. However, it must be noted that for this to happen, the aspect of trust is a critical element. The volunteers in this case act as mediators between the community and the core member whereby they ensure that they create trust with the core members and the community. In this way, the core member is assured that there will be no more harassment from either the police or the community members. On their side, the community members and the police are assured of the positive progress of the core member and believe that the individual would change his behavior.
Conclusion
As noted above, The Circles of Support and Accountability is a behavior change model for high risk as well as high need sexual offenders in Canada aimed at not only changing personal behaviors of sexual offenders but also reintegrating them into communities. The objective is the reduction of the risk of sexual reoffending among these individuals. The paper has discussed the effectiveness of the model thus making it suitable for the reduction of risk of re-offending for youth and adults who commit sexual offenses.
References
Hanvey, S., Philpot, T., & Wilson, C. (2011). A community-based approach to the reduction of sexual reoffending: Circles of support and accountability . London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Hannem, S. (2013). Experiences in Reconciling Risk Management and Restorative Justice: How Circles of Support and Accountability Work Restoratively in the Risk Society. International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology , 57 (3), 269-288.
doi:10.1177/0306624X11432538
Hannem, S., & Petrunik, M. (2007). Circles of Support and Accountability: A Community Justice Initiative for the Reintegration of High Risk Sex Offenders. Contemporary Justice Review , 10 (2), 153-171. doi:10.1080/10282580701372046
In Wright, R. G. (2015). Sex offender laws: Failed policies, new directions . New York: Springer Publishing Company
Wilson, R. J., Mcwhinnie, A., Picheca, J. E., Prinzo, M., & Cortoni, F. (2007). Circles of Support and Accountability: Engaging Community Volunteers in the Management of High-Risk Sexual Offenders. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice , 46 (1), 1-15. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2311.2007.00450.x
