Evaluating Restorative Justice Circles of Support and Accountability: Can Social Support Overcome Structural Barriers?
In a climate in which stigmatic shaming is increasing for sex offenders as they leave prison, restorative justice practices have emerged as a promising approach to sex offender reentry success and have been shown to reduce recidivism. Criminologists and restorative justice advocates believe that providing ex-offenders with social support that they may not otherwise have is crucial to reducing recidivism. This case study describes the expressive and instrumental social support required and received, and its relationship to key outcomes, by sex offenders who participated in Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs), a restorative justice, reentry program in Minnesota. In-depth interviews with re-entering sex offenders and program volunteers revealed that 75% of offenders reported weak to moderate levels of social support leaving prison, 70% reported receiving instrumental support in COSAs, and 100% reported receiving expressive support. Findings inform work on social support, structural barriers, and restorative justice programming during sex offender reentry.
1 Indiana University Bloomington, USA.
Miriam Northcutt
MN
Bohmert
2 Minnesota Department of Corrections, Saint Paul, USA.
Grant
G
Duwe
1 Indiana University Bloomington, USA.
Natalie Kroovand
NK
Hipple
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D062309:Community Integration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota; D015397:Program Evaluation; D000075665:Recidivism / Q000517:prevention & control; D012742:Sex Offenses; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult
Circles of Support and Accountability; community justice; prison reentry; restorative justice; sex offenders; social support