Evaluation of CerclesCat Project: 4th Report

Abstract

This is the fourth and last report in the series that make up the comprehensive evaluation project of the implementation of Circles of Support and Accountability in Catalonia.

The first chapter summarizes what the Circles Project is about, and its evolution from its beginning to the present, as well as the main results obtained in the previous reports, being mindful of the public that has not yet read them.

The Circles model is very young in its application in Catalonia and has been gradually implemented so that it can be introduced as one more resource for the risk management of sexual offenders in our territory. This has been taken into account in the design of the evaluation, which has lasted almost 5 years. We have presented the partial results each year. In each of these partial reports, the priority has been to respond to some of the goals of the evaluation project of this public policy.

The main objective pursued by the current report is to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the Circles Project in promoting the social reintegration and the reduction of recidivism of high-risk sex offenders who have participated in the program versus those who have not. To contextualize the data: the population serving a sentence for sexual crimes in 2019 in Catalonia was 659 people, and 20% of them were at high risk of recidivism. Therefore, the population that can be included in programs such as Circles is 132 people, 1.6% of the Catalan prison population in 2019.

The study sample is composed of 121 people, of whom 107 have been followed up after release for periods ranging from 2 to 7 years. The study collects data on the rates of prison recidivism (return to prison for a new offence, either accused or sentenced) and penal execution recidivism (being involved in any penal procedure for a new offence). Moreover, recidivism is analyzed for different types of crime (general, violent and sexual).