Connect to Community

Colin is in his 60s. He has been convicted of one criminal offence in his life. A historic sexual offence against a child in his own family. The conviction divided his family. Some maintained contact for the period of his imprisonment retaining doubts about the safety of the conviction; others made it clear that if they maintained contact they would be ostracised. Eventually, to maintain family unity, one by one the whole family chose to distance themselves from Colin. On the day of his release from prison, he was required to present as homeless, to be housed in approved accommodation by the local authority, register with the police, and register with a Doctor. As the person ‘accompanying’ him on the day of his release, I had arranged to visit the family home on his behalf to collect some personal belongings. I arrived in their street to find posters all over the neighbourhood warning of his release. One by one I took the posters down, and when challenged informed people I was removing them because they were providing false information & promoting unnecessary fear.

In the months that followed Colin settled in a temporary furnished flat, engaged pro-actively with social work, completed the ‘Moving Forward Making Changes’ group work, with very positive feedback from Social Work, and his risk was reduced to the lowest category by the Offender Management Unit. He had courageously completely changed his lifestyle – e.g. total abstinence from alcohol – so that he would live clear with clear boundaries for his own safety and the safety of others. 15 months after release, a neighbour ‘identified’ him, informed other neighbours, and within 4 hours his house was surrounded by a mob of 100 demanding his exit. He was moved under police escort and rehoused in another village 15 miles away. After a few weeks there, he was given a permanent flat in a 3rd village, and began to invest in the flat. 4 months in, and he was ‘identified’ again & then moved under police escort. This time he lasted 2 nights before he was called by the police and informed his location had been revealed on social media.

In the space of 2 years, Colin had to move 5 times, despite full compliance with his license conditions, continuous positive reports from Social Work & police, and a long distance between the offence he was convicted for & the present day. In all that time, not a single charge was brought against those who gathered in a mob round his house, threw bricks through his window, or identified him on social media. He is one of 4 men who we work with who have experienced the same ‘mob eviction’ in the same county in the last 18 months. In addition we work with people who have suffered similar threats on social media & forced evictions in other parts of the country. One social media website in Edinburgh, which continually visually identified people suspected of being on the sex offenders register (often falsely) & gave their domestic locations, was run by someone who was eventually found to have convictions himself for benefit fraud and domestic violence, yet the site was allowed to remain live.

No other group of people with convictions is treated like this. Police Scotland reports that 4261 individuals living in the community were on the register on 31/7/2019. Another 1503 are presently in secure accommodation either in prison or hospital. Mob rule is not ultimately about the individuals on the register; it is in effect a criticism of the ability of the police & social work to monitor this group, and manage them safely.  Yet not a single individual on the register was ‘missing’ on 31st July. While such mob rule is allowed to exist, it drives individuals into despair, causes them to hide their ‘shame’ in a way other people with convictions don’t need to, and leads to increased social isolation, poorer mental health, and the likelihood of behaviours that harm self or others.

What can we do?

In the 1st instance there needs to be a new public narrative. The demonising of people on the register in public discourse can only be challenged by people having the courage to speak a different language in the public square. That can begin with us. How we respond to newspaper headlines. How we engage in office chat. How we relate to people with convictions.

In the 2nd instance there may need to be another look at how the sex offenders register works. At present it is too blunt an instrument – there is no distinction in the public identification of people who are on it for a wide variety of offences. Not everyone on it carries an immediate risk to neighbours. Of course within the monitoring services a distinction is made and risk is managed appropriately, but in the minds of the public someone who is identified as being on the register is immediately categorised as a community danger & ostracised. This is not healthy for them or for our communities.

In the 3rd instance positive accountable relationships need to be encouraged between people who have a struggle with offensive behaviours of a sexual nature, and those for whom this is not a lived reality. We have learned painful lessons in the past that public shaming & stigmatisation does not help people who struggle with mental health issues, does not support people living with AIDS and does not lead to change for people struggling with substance abuse. A similar re-integration of people into healthy community needs to take place for people convicted of sexual offences.

This blog was originally written by Connect to Community for Prisoners Week 2019