Glossary

2003

Boundaries: Physical (time and space) and psychological boundaries are limits we establish for ourselves in order to be safe or to feel safe, or to maintain our mental health. Examples of boundaries in this work may be guidelines for acceptable telephone calls unless made in an extreme emergency, accessibility to one's home, the time one is willing to offer etc. Boundaries may also refer to the division between various roles as in the differences in expectations for the role of the Core Member, a Circle volunteer, and the local initiative co-ordinator.
Community Chaplain: A community chaplain is a person who offers spiritual and religious care in a community setting, generally across denominational and religious lines. The CSC has a long history of providing Chaplaincy service in the institution and is increasing the presence of chaplains in the community to assist ex-prisoners to integrate into the faith community of their choice and to deal with related spiritual care issues.
Consensus: Consensus is reached when everyone in a group is willing to 'live with' the decision. Some may have other preferences but there is a willingness to accept the decision. This contrasts with a 'majority' decision-making model where several members may be absolutely opposed to the decision adopted.
Core Member: The core member is the primary person for whom the Circle has been formed. In this context, the core member is the ex-offender.
Court Orders: Any requirements imposed by the Court.
Crime Cycle: Repeated crime usually follows a defined pattern. There are attitudes and behaviors that the offender engages in prior to committing a criminal offence that signal a problem is pending.
Detained: Denied some form of conditional release, be it parole or other supervised or conditional release).
Faith Community: A faith community is group of people who identify themselves sharing a common faith. Usually a faith community would be a subset of a major religion. For example, in Christianity, the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, the United Church would be "faith communities".
Federal Sentence: A custodial sentence, one requiring prison time, is served in a federal institution if it is to last two or more years.
Group Dynamics: Group dynamics refers to the interplay of personalities and roles at work in a setting of three or more persons. These include power and control issues, communication patterns, and modes of decision-making, conflict resolution, and task accomplishment.
High Profile Offender: An offender who has been given a lot of media attention and/or who is likely to be targeted by media upon release.
Index Offence: The offence considered being the primary or main one for which a prisoner is sentenced. There may have been many charges of which the person has been convicted, but there is usually one that is the primary cause of arrest and detention.
Institutionalization: The condition resulting from adapting to life in an institution. Forms of dependence are often characterized by the need for rigid routine and different norms of interpersonal behavior.
IPO (Institutional Parole Officer): The IPO, sometimes referred to as a Case Manager, is the staff person in the prison responsible for the ongoing supervision of an inmate's progress through the system.
Local Project Co-ordinator (LPC): A person designated by the CSC Chaplaincy to oversee COSA project in a community. Formerly called a LIC or Local Initiative Co-ordinator.
National Parole Board (NPB): The NPB is a body independent of the CSC that reviews each prisoner's application for parole, decides if he/she is to be granted parole and what conditions will apply to the parole order.
Non-Custodial: Instance in which custodial care is not assumed over the person in question. Opposite to an instance of custodial care in which someone assumes the power to control the other person and responsibility for that person's actions.
Offence Cycle: As in Crime Cycle above.
Paraphilias (e.g. pedophilia): A variety of disorders of sexual preference, characterized by recurrent sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors generally involving 1) non-human objects, 2) the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner, or 3) children or other non-consenting persons, that occur over a period of at least 6 months. These fantasies, urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Provincial Sentence: A custodial sentence (one requiring prison time) is served in an institution administered by the province if it is for less than two years.
Relapse: Engaging in the unacceptable activity / behavior that one is meaning to avoid.
Relapse Prevention: Behavior patterns that lead to successful living and the successful avoidance of relapse.
Restorative Justice: Restorative Justice is an approach to justice making that has as its primary goal repairing the harm done by crime to the extent possible, with regard to and for the victim, the community, and the offender.
Risk Factors: Situations, circumstances and behaviors that can trigger a return to unacceptable (illegal) activity.
Section 810 (Judicial Restraint Orders, "810 Orders"): Orders based on Section 810 of the Criminal Code, "peace bonds," or "sureties to keep the peace" have existed in Canadian law since in 1892. Initially this part of the law consisted of only "where injury or damage feared", but since then these provisions have been expanded to include several others. "Where fear of sexual offence" was added as 810.1 in 1993, and "Where fear of Serious Personal Injury Offence" enacted as 810.2 in 1997.
The 810.1 order allows the court to restrict a person's movements and behaviour when there are reasonable grounds to fear that a person will commit a sex offence against someone under the age of 14. The 810.2 order focuses on violent offenders, including sexual offenders. These orders can be made for a maximum of one year. Conditions can be attached to these orders and a breach of an 810 order constitutes an offence. Should a defendant refuse to enter into an 810 order s/he may be imprisoned for up to one year (Source: Solicitor General Canada publication High-Risk Offenders: A Handbook for Criminal justice Professionals (May 2001).
Sex Offender: An offender whose primary offence leading to incarceration is a sexual offence. In the context of the 'Circles' program a person is considered to be a sexual offender if a sexual offence constitutes at least one of the charges and the sexual offence is the reason for the detention.
Sexual Deviation: Sexual behavior that is outside the acceptable norms set by society, as defined by psychiatry and/or the law.
Statutory Release: At the two-thirds point of a sentence a prisoner must be granted a conditional release that is a release with conditions that may include restricted movement, reporting requirements, etc. Exceptions are sometimes made when a prisoner is considered to be a great danger to society. In such a case, he/she may be "detained." If detained beyond the statutory release date, there must be a review every year to determine if the inmate is ready for release. The annual reviews continue until the expiry of his warrant (WED) at which time Correctional Service Canada must release the offender and has no further jurisdiction over him/her.
Supervision: Supervision implies a responsibility for the actions of the person being supervised.
Risk Assessment: Risk Assessment is an assessment of the likelihood that an individual will re-offend. A rating is given in terms of probability of re-offending over time.
Victim Advocate: A person who walks with a victim to give emotional support, assist that person to attain needed services, and/or to articulate her/his perspective.
Volunteer: The volunteers on the 'Circle' are people from the community who give of their time to provide friendship, emotional support, and accountability to the core member.
VORP, Victim Offender Reconciliation Program or VOM, Victim Offender Mediation: These programs, which are also sometimes referred to as Victim-Offender Conferencing, facilitate face-to-face encounters or other forms of dialogue between victims and offenders for the purpose of healing the effects of crime done.
Warrant Expiry Date or WED: The date on which a sentence imposed by the sentencing judge ends. This is the last day that the Correctional Service of Canada has jurisdiction over an offender. In other words, the CSC cannot tell the person what to do, hold any coercive authority over him, offer any service, or spend any public money on him/her after this date.