Counting down his last days in prison, Greg thought about his daughter, and the grandson he’d never met.
But his first days of freedom in Summer 2016 yielded more loss than gain. His fresh start was spoiled when Greg’s face appeared on the local television news. There were anticipatory town meetings, preceded by the police of his small Vermont town stepping up patrols, just for him. Within a couple months, Greg was asked to leave his stepfather’s house, before he ended up at a homeless shelter. Full Article
I liked this comment in the article:
“Reformers argue that these registries, in pushing former offenders further to the fringes, actually lead to less accountability and more desperate behavior. State registries might be perpetuating sex offenses more than they’re preventing them.”
But this statement from a Circle’s coordinator in North Carolina seems suspect, in that it mentions “recidivism” statistics that seem improbably high, based on credible current studies:
… says Drew Doll, Durham’s Circles coordinator. “The average recidivism rate for Durham is 55 to 60 percent. For those people who spend a year with us [in the Circles program] that rate is under 10 percent. It makes a huge difference.”
What is counting as evidence of recidivism? There is no way that the re-offense rate can be anywhere near those figures. It would be best to either explain that, or discuss re-offense rates, since that is what most people think of when they read or hear about recidivism.
This “55-60%” recidivism rate being lowered to “10%” stinks of a Psychology Today article that used the term “frightening and high” to sell another program in the past. Does that sound familiar to anyone?
The real problem is not the recidivism rate. We are 95ers. The problem is fear in the general population based on the BS that was preached in Plano, Texas and became scripture through the legislatures of this nation. That may be Circles value, reversing that dogma. No other reintegration program focuses on changing the attitude of the public. Of course to sell the program in this social environment, they have to focus on their success with the repeat offender.