A pioneering community-based approach to managing the behaviour of sex offenders which is proven to be effective in combating child sexual abuse

A Circle of Support and Accountability is a group of trained volunteers who meet on a regular basis with a high risk sex offender living in their community. This innovative strategy, which helps the offender both to maintain accountability and reintegrate into the community, is proven to be effective in combating child sexual abuse.

This book explains this pioneering approach to managing the behaviour of sex offenders in the community. It provides an overview of sexual abuse, sex offenders and their management, and the Circles approach. The authors set out the development of Circles since they were first started in Canada, the principles of Circles and how they work in practice, and evidence and evaluation of their effectiveness. The use of Circles is brought to life by testimonies from four sex offenders and four volunteers who tell, often movingly, why they joined a Circle, their experiences, and the effects upon them.

This unique book, on a ground-breaking approach to managing sex offenders, will be of great interest to professionals across social care and the criminal justice system, including prison and probation services, the police, social workers, counsellors and all those working with sex offenders, including volunteers.

"The book's strength lies in (...) the largely-unedited stories of eight Circles' participants gathered through in-depth interviews, four with men convicted of sex offences against children, four with community volunteers. The probing interviews offer insightful, frequently unheard, perspectives, particularly when it comes to the former offenders themselves... in addition to their interviews, the authors provide a useful summary of academic research, including recidivism studies, on the model's effectiveness... This is an engaging, informative book, suited to academics, policy makers, practitioners, as well as current and potential community volunteers interested in constructive responses to sexual offending." - The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice