7. Confidentiality

2003

Confidentiality is a key component in the life of a COSA and must be reflected in the Covenant. All information dealt with by the COSA should be treated as confidential and, therefore, not open for discussion outside the COSA. All information obtained about and from the core member is especially confidential. Information is confidential and generally not to be discussed with anyone outside the COSA unless the COSA has agreed to do so.

While confidentiality is central to the successful operation of a COSA, the need to break it arises when something has happened or is going to happen which threatens the safety of the community. This may or may not represent a crisis. In any event, the COSA must have a strategy for dealing with this kind of crisis. Confidentiality can normally be maintained unless the following conditions exist:

  • Someone poses a risk of harm to his or her own person, or to the person or property of another.
  • A child is at risk.
  • A law has been violated, or is about to be violated.
  • A condition on a court order has been or is about to be violated.

In instances such as these, the COSA should convene immediately and discuss the appropriate response. As community members, COSA have a duty to warn the appropriate authorities if the above conditions exist. However, the decision to notify the authorities must first be processed by the COSA.

A. Secrets and Secret-Keeping

Sometimes confidentiality and privacy are confused with the need to maintain secrecy. Secrets and secret keeping are not the same as confidentiality and the need for personal privacy.

The Oxford Dictionary notes that the word "secret" derives from a Latin root meaning "to separate." It defines "secret" firstly as "kept or meant to be kept private, unknown, or hidden." These are the trademark dynamics of sexual offending.

By contrast, the whole purpose of forming a COSA is to restore and bring together, to make known and bring into the open, not to separate and keep hidden which are fostered through the keeping of secrets, hiding and keeping separate. Offenders will often try to get their victims "not to tell." Violent sexual offenders will use threats and intimidation to keep their victims from talking about what has happened to them. Secrets and secret keeping are prime tools in the deviant lives of sex offenders. They have been used to buy silence, to effect coercion, and to manipulate victims. They are a primary tactic of power and control and a prominent feature of sexual offending.

Core members committed to having "no more victims" are also committed to keeping their lives open and not hidden. Some points about keeping secrets follow:

  • Secrets are a prime criminogenic factor in the offence patterns of most sex offenders, directly related to their offence cycles.
  • A COSA volunteer should never promise to "keep a secret" at the request of a core member.
  • Secrets within the COSA (e.g. keeping some information secret from other COSA volunteers) will only serve to fragment and destroy COSA dynamics, and eventually the COSA itself.

Sometimes a core member may ask to speak with a volunteer "confidentially." Volunteers should not promise to keep things "confidential" within the COSA. The volunteer should let the core member know that they are both bound by the Covenant. This means that information must be shared within the COSA. The volunteer should promise to hear the core member and help him find ways of bringing his information to the COSA. For instance, the core member might be encouraged to speak with one other core member as a first step towards bringing his information to the whole COSA.

B. Record Keeping, Security and Confidentiality: Double-Locked Systems

Records kept by a COSA (e.g. core members needs, offence cycle, addresses, finances, contact notes, victim information, court orders, covenants, and other documentation) as well as COSA volunteer files are confidential and must be held in a secure place.

Generally speaking, these and other sensitive documents should be kept in a metal, fire-resistant, locked filing cabinet. The cabinet itself should be kept in a secure setting behind a locked door. This will accomplish a "double-locked" security system for sensitive documents.