The Community Education Service (CES) of The Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention (SRACP) has pioneered the adoption of life education in crime prevention education in Hong Kong since 1977. Under this programme, former offenders and drug abusers are recruited to share their experiences with community audiences. Through such sharing, it is hoped that the former offenders and drug abusers will gain a deeper insight into the consequences of committing crime or abusing drugs, have the courage to admit their failings and find the way to lead a more fulfilling and law-abiding life.

In the past, different organizations have employed former offenders and drug abusers in educational programmes, particularly in relation to the prevention of juvenile delinquency. A number of studies demonstrate the educational effectiveness of sharing past deviant behaviours with audiences. Moreover, the mission of SRACP is to help the reintegration into society of former offenders and drug abusers. Consequently, employing former offenders and drug abusers to share their experiences serves another important function; to facilitate the transformation of their past histories into valuable assets and help with their own rehabilitation during the process of serving others, as suggested by ‘helper therapy’ and ‘professional ex-s’ (Brown 1991). A successful rehabilitation means success in reducing recidivism.

This paper examines whether sharing one's real-life experiences with others can influence the rehabilitation process, and provides recommendations for improving service delivery to benefit both audience and the speakers themselves. Fifteen individuals who were formerly either offenders or drug abusers, aged between 18 and 45 years, and who had led a ‘clean’ life for the previous six months, took part in in-depth interviews in order to investigate their perceptions of the function of real-life experience sharing in their own rehabilitation. Concepts of labelling theory (Becker 1963) and self-fulfilling prophecy (Wilkins 1976) provided the framework for these interviews.

The study concludes that respondents are normally able to help themselves to resist crime and drugs, given that the internal and external factors affecting sharing are well addressed. The results identify practical implications and directions for future involvement of former offenders and drug abusers in community-based crime prevention education programmes.

自1977年起，香港善導會的社區教育服務開始應用生命教育於預防犯罪教育之上。此計劃招募了曾經罪犯和濫藥人士與社區人士分享他們的經歷。主辦方希望透過這些分享，讓曾經罪犯和前濫藥人士進一步對犯罪或濫藥的後果有更深刻的了解，從而有勇氣承認自己的失敗和尋找朝向更有意義和守法的生活道路。

過往不同機構都曾在教育計劃中聘用曾經罪犯和前濫藥人士，特別是有關少年犯罪的預防工作。不少研究都顯示與人分享過往偏差行為的教育成效。再者，香港善導會的使命正是幫助曾經罪犯和濫藥人士重新投入社會。因此，邀請他們分享經歷有另一層重要功效，就是協助他們將以往經歷轉化為有價值的資產和透過服務別人以達致個人的更生復康，這亦是「援助者療法（helper therapy）」和「專業前任（professional ex-s）」所提倡的（Brown 1991）。成功的更生復康過程即是成功地減低累犯。

本文將審視與人分享自己真實生活經驗會否影響其更生復康過程，以及提出改善服務的建議。為了更好理解分享自身真實生活經驗對更生康復的功效，我們深入訪談了十五位年齡由十八至四十五歲和已有六個月「健康」生活的曾經罪犯或濫藥者。標簽理論（labelling theory）（Becker 1963）和自證預言（ self-fulfilling prophecy）（Wilkins 1976）的概念為這次訪問提供了框架。

這次研究的總結是，假設有妥善處理影響分享的內在和外在因素，受訪者一般都可以幫助自己去抗拒犯罪和藥品。研究結果也確立了未來讓曾經罪犯或濫藥者參與社區性預防犯罪教育計劃的實際效果和方向。

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