Program evaluation in Catalonia (CerclesCat): the role of supportive people in the circle

Abstract

In order to establish an evaluation model comparable with other countries that have implemented the operating model of the Circles of Support and Responsibility (CoSA) program , the Secretary of Penal Measures, Reintegration and Victim Care entrusted the Criminal Enforcement Research and Training Area of ​​the Center for Legal Studies and Specialized Training (CEJFE) the design and evaluation of the operation and results of the implementation project of the CerclesCat program in Catalonia. Together with researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Fundació Salut i Comunitat, a research team was set up in 2016 to carry out this task and since 2017 a longitudinal study has been carried out on this program , where the subjects that make up the various study groups and their operating process are described. The first two reports can be consulted on this website.

This report is the third of the series of reports that will make up the complete evaluation project of the implementation of the CerclesCat program in Catalonia, focused on the study of the volunteers who participate and the team of professionals involved in the program CerclesCat , in order to offer a comprehensive explanation of all the elements that make it up. The main objective of this report is to analyze the experiences of the volunteers, coordinators, professionals of the External Circle and members of the Executive Committee to identify the most relevant elements of the program's operation and compare some of the results obtained with those published to international research on the CoSA model.

Data have been collected from a total sample of 41 subjects participating in CerclesCat (N=41) among volunteers (n=25), coordinators (n=9), professionals (n=4) and the Executive Committee (n= 3), which have been administered a measuring instrument in questionnaire format to obtain information on three major axes: a) socio-demographic information; b) attitudes about people who commit sexual crimes and) general state of health.