Conceptualising success and failure in Circles of Support and Accountability

This paper presents an exploration into success and failure in Circles of Support and Accountability (Circles). Successes in Circles are commonly reported in the literature whilst failure, for reasons relating to funding of the intervention, is often ignored. A disregard for the small number of Circles that fail, means an opportunity to learn from failure is lost. Furthermore, it is argued that, without agreed-upon definitions of success and failure within the context of Circles, it is not possible to ensure researchers and academics are measuring successes of the intervention to the same degree. This paper proposes a means for which to define success and failure in Circles. Success and failure were defined here, through a critical exploration of the literature, combined with a critical evaluation of the two core principles upon which the Circles intervention was based; no more victims and no one is disposable.