Circles of Support and Accountability - Interim report [PDF ... - Quakers

isk cannot be managed successfully there is with a Circle the added factor that if the risk posed to
the public or the Core Member does increase then it can be identified and dealt with quickly.
The role of the Public Protection Officer within the Thames Valley Police has also been greatly
assisted in that now the role of support is shared with the Circle volunteers. From a personal point
of view my role has been enhanced by the implementation of Circles of Support and
Accountability, I have seen great improvement in the Core Members, and also my workload has
been eased considerably.
I fully support the Circles of Support and Accountability programme and would hope that it is
used to its full potential nation-wide in the future.
WDC 3872 Corinne Greenall
Public Protection Officer
The Core Member’s Perspective
Extracts from an Evaluation Study
This is the result of a study conducted by Sarah Bell. Sarah is a Social Work student at Oxford Brooks
University who undertook a placement with the Thames Valley Circles of Support and Accountability
Programme. As part of that placement Sarah undertook to interview four Core Members who were currently
in a Circle. She designed a semi-structured interview aimed at eliciting both the thoughts and feelings
experienced by the Core Members in relation to their Circle. What follows are extracts from that study,
highlighting the Core Members’ perspective of being in a Circle.
The Core Members in this study had heard about the Circles Programme either from their
Probation Officer or Prison Chaplain. Application forms were completed with absolute
confidentiality and each Core Member received a reply about their acceptance directly from a
member of the Circles programme team who then visited them.
The voice of the Core Member is important not only to ascertain how well the Circles have been
running but also for other offenders, who may or may not have the opportunity to experience the
kind of non-judgemental support offered by Circles. It became apparent that this was a key feeling
with each Core Member.
As one Core Member tries to explain: ‘Although the Police treat you with respect they also judge
you on your crime and their profession requires them to judgementally question you, for instance,
as an ex sex-offender.’ He was aware that if there were any offences committed in the community
where he lived, he would be questioned automatically about it. While understanding why, he felt
this would be a pre-judgement on behalf of the Police towards him. He believed both the staff in
his Probation hostel, and the Sex Offender Registration Officer would make the same kinds of prejudgements.
He was clear however that this was not the case with the volunteers in his Circle.
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