Social Work and Criminal Justice

SUMMARY

We shall begin with the principal, and complicated, conclusion: Regrettably, the social work profession has largely abandoned the criminal justice field. That is not to say that social workers are not employed in criminal justice settings. Certainly they are. Significant numbers of social workers earn their living as probation and parole officers, caseworkers in public defender offices, counselors in correctional institutions and halfway houses, and so on. As a profession, however, social work no longer has a major presence in the criminal justice field (Gibelman and Schervish, 1993). Relatively few social workers embark on their professional education with the aim of employment in the criminal justice field. Virtually no courses in social work education programs focus explicitly or comprehensively on criminal justice (Knox and Roberts, 2002; McNeece and Roberts, 1997). Workshops offered at professional conferences or continuing education seminars rarely focus on criminal justice issues per se. And, relatively little serious scholarship on criminal justice issues is authored by social workers.

Interestingly, this has not always been the state of affairs. Earlier in the profession's history, social workers were much more visible and vocal participants in dialogue, debate, research, and practice related to criminal justice. Ideally-in light of social work's unique perspectives on practice and social problems, and the profession's noble value base-the profession will reclaim its preoccupation with criminal justice. As Sarri (2001) concludes with respect to social workers' involvement in the juvenile justice system in particular:

Thirty years ago, social workers were in leadership positions in juvenile justice in the majority of states. In the 1980s, a gradual decline began in agencies and in social work education for practice in juvenile justice. Some have suggested that the decline was at least partially due to professional resistance to working in coercive settings with involuntary clients. However, given the millions of people now caught up in the criminal justice system who are not receiving the social services they desperately need, it is a priority that social work return to a more central role in criminal justice. (p. 453)     

Vocational Psychology and New Challenges

A discussion group composed of vocational psychologists, guidance professionals, and career development specialists from around the world identified and discussed new challenges in understanding work and providing relevant career services. Four major themes emerged: What revisions are necessary in the profession's theory and practice to address changes in the nature of work and be more inclusive? How is culture to be addressed? What will help in the advancement from social justice rhetoric to meaningful practice? How can research continue to advance the field?     

Honouring social work principles - exploring the connections between anti-racist social work and African-centred worldviews

Social work education has had a chequered history in its attempts to address racism within the profession. The demise of anti-racist social work over the past decade raises important questions concerning its place and future within social work education. This paper re-examines the contours of anti-racist social work to explore the connections between anti-racist social work and African-centred worldviews. The author argues that sources of oppression are not confined to social work institutions and its operations, but also relate to the nature of social work knowledge. The existing parameters of anti-racist social work do not adequately challenge hegemony within social work knowledge itself. Thereby, this incongruity serves to support a hidden source of cultural oppression by negating the legitimacy and validation of alternative worldviews. The inclusion of alternative worldviews enables social work to maximise its ability to actualise humanitarian goals to offer a truly multi-cultural and anti-oppressive curriculum. Moreover, the validation of non-hegemonic ways of knowing ensures the profession's participation in its commitment to equality and social justice.     

Sustainable Social Work: An Environmental Justice Framework for Social Work Education

Environmental degradation is not experienced by all populations equally; hazardous and toxic waste sites, resource contamination (e.g., exposure to pesticides), air pollution, and numerous other forms of environmental degradation disproportionately affect low income and minority communities. The communities most affected by environmental injustices are often the same communities where social workers are entrenched in service provision at the individual, family, and community level. In this article, we use a global social work paradigm to describe practical ways in which environmental justice content can be infused in the training and education of social workers across contexts in order to prepare professionals with the skills to respond to ever-increasing global environmental degradation. We discuss ways for social work educators to integrate and frame environmental concerns and their consequences for vulnerable populations using existing social work models and perspectives to improve the social work profession's ability to respond to environmental injustices. There are significant social work implications; social workers need to adapt and respond to contexts that shape our practice, including environmental concerns that impact the vulnerable and oppressed populations that we serve.     

Policy-Practice in Social Work: Models and Issues

Abstract

The emergence of policy—practice is a recent development in social work. In this article, policy—practice is defined as a direct social work practice mode with the potential to strengthen the social work profession's abilities to meet its century-long commitments of providing policy-informed services to those in need of them. At the same time, policy—practice advocates for and participates in policy implementation and change. This article examines policy—practice and places it within the context of the profession's historic cause—function debate and identifies several barriers that have complicated development. Most important, the article reviews five policy-practice models found in the literature: (1) social worker as policy expert, (2) social worker as change agent in external work environments, (3) social worker as change agent in internal work environments, (4) social worker as policy conduit, and (5) social worker as policy itself.     

Under the Cover of Books

There are any number of factors in the political economy of the social work profession which may inhibit or encourage social action activities among its members. In Canada, the precalence of government funding for advocacy organizations, a high level of unionization among social workers, and professional commitment to social action as expressed in the Canadian Code of Social Work Ethics are some of the factors that affect the profession's capacity to engage in social action.     

Observing the lighthouse

This paper discusses the nature of codes of ethics in social work. The desirability of defining rights and obligations in social services is widely accepted, but formal ethical codes often seem both excessively ambitious and insufficiently precise. Their usefulness is thus cast into doubt. The paper considers the influence of major traditions of moral theory and examines the nature of professional codes. It is argued that the precepts embodied in codes of ethics are of limited value unless supported by practical social institutions which attend to the proper implementation of ethical principles. The profession's code of ethics is likened to the function of the lighthouse: to serve as a point of reference and warning of danger, but not to work out one's course or one's destination.     

Critiquing the goal of autonomy: Towards strengthening the 'relational self' and the quality of belonging in casework practice

An argument re-affirming a progressive role for casework is introduced. This argument seeks to articulate an acknowledgement of the atomising effects of ongoing structural change with the profession's long-standing interest in promoting the quality of interpersonal relations and proceeds in three steps. Firstly, recent theoretical work is brought forward to advance the premise that the self can be understood as 'relational' as well as 'autonomous'. Secondly, a summary is offered of the research concerning the relationship between well-being and the quality of a person's social network which, more recently, has been framed in terms such as 'social connectedness' and 'attachment'. Building on these two propositions it is then suggested that it is possible for caseworkers, particularly those whose roles tend to be concerned with less urgently material and advocacy tasks, to promote the quality of interdependence and connectedness of those service users we work with irrespective of their presenting problem and the practitioner's preferred method and assigned practice role. Preliminary suggestions as to how this may be commenced are then briefly introduced.     

Evaluations of Social Work Education: A Critical Review

Since the introduction in England of the social work degree in 2002, there have been a number of significant changes to social work education culminating with the implementation of the Social Work Reform Board's innovations in 2013. This article critically explores the role of evaluations of changes in social work education and their implications for social work pedagogy. Evaluations can be linked to wider trends in society such as modernity, reflexive modernity, and the audit society. These wider influences affect the use of evaluations. A way forward for social work is proposed. Social work education needs to develop a critical pedagogy of hope to transform the profession's relationship not only to evaluations but to practise as well. The key message of this article is that evaluation studies of social work education mirror the underlying tensions of late modernity. Therefore, social work education needs to adopt a critical pedagogic approach to the use of evaluation research.     

SOCIAL WORK SCHOLARS' REPRESENTATION OF RAWLS: A CRITIQUE

Although Rawls is the most cited social justice theorist in social work, he is not always accurately represented in the literature. To clarify this claim, the author reviews social work scholars' views about social justice, shows social work scholars' representation of Rawls, and highlights aspects of Rawls' theory of social justice. The author's critique reveals that there have been and continue to be more differences than similarities between Rawls and social work scholars. Consequently, the article recommends revising the social work knowledge-base in relation to social justice and Rawls so that his ideas are authentically represented in future social work education and scholarship.     

Welfare and Welfare to Work in the United States

Summary

Despite social work's historic ambivalence toward income support programs, the policy changes introduced by the TANF welfare to work program demand the profession's attention. Although social workers are not directly responsible for the administration or implementation of the program, many serve TANF clients whose lives have been affected by these changes. Tracing social work's historic but reluctant involvement with income support, this paper urges the profession to respond to the challenges posed by the TANF program in a more systematic way and to contribute more effectively to the wider task of poverty eradication.     

Career Counselors as Advocates and Change Agents for Equality

This analysis of the career counseling profession's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats emphasizes the importance of the profession's contributions to fostering equality in a democratic society. Career counseling professionals and their National Career Development Association are well positioned to expand their concentration on fostering the career development of individuals to encompass advocacy about public policy and agency in changing systems. Advances in the use of technology, attention to multicultural issues, and advocacy of holistic models have the potential to enrich the career counseling profession's contributions to individual development and social equality.     

Early Brain Development for Social Work Practice: Integrating Neuroscience with Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Despite social work's claim of a bio-psychosocial approach to human behavior and development, the profession fails to incorporate important physiological knowledge into practice, research, and education. This article provides an example of the usefulness of understanding the ontology of early brain development by demonstrating how such knowledge can be integrated into Piaget's theory of cognitive development. We suggest that social work's focus on evidence-based practice demands the incorporation of neuroscience into the profession's body of knowledge.     

Frank Parsons and the Progressive Movement

This article recounts the social influences that must have inspired Frank Parsons to create vocational counseling and traces the profession's early development.     

Agency Practices Affecting Social Workers Who Treat Substance-Abusing Clients

Abstract

This study interviewed 115 MSWs with substance abuse training working in general social service agencies to determine if they viewed their settings as facilitating or hindering their work with substance-abusing clients. This study builds on the work of Lightfoot and Orford (1986) who found that social workers were more hindered than helped by their agencies' practices regarding substance-abusing clients.

Results: A majority of workers viewed their agencies as facilitating substance abuse-related work through support from supervisors and administrators, availability of substance abuse training, workers' freedom to choose clients, and opportunities to supervise others on substance abuse-related issues. Supervisor data corroborated these findings. This is a hopeful sign for the profession contrasting with considerable social work literature documenting the profession's historic ambivalence toward substance-abusing clients.     

Building Cultural Competence for Work with Diverse Families

Abstract

This paper proposes a postmodern approach to social work practice that links the perspectives of cultural competence, diversity, social constructionism, and a generalist strengths-based orientation for work with families. The profession's early work with diverse families is put into the context of privilege and contrasted with more contemporary models built on affirmation of diversity and the strengths of families. The component theoretical perspectives are reviewed and followed by a flexible pedagogical model that includes four steps and representative teaching strategies for implementation.     

Spirituality in Social Work Education: A Development and Discussion of Goals that Flow from the Profession's Ethical Mandates

Growing interest in incorporating spirituality into curriculum content exists. Little consideration, however, has occurred regarding the purpose or goals of this content. Building upon the profession's ethical mandates, this paper develops two intertwined objectives that should inform content: understanding spiritual diversity and the discrimination subordinate faiths encounter in the dominant mainstream culture. Theories are reviewed and empirical data are cited that provide a context for understanding, and illustrate the need to address, the issues of spiritual diversity and discrimination. In effect, this material is based upon the same widely used template that informs social work content in other areas of diversity—namely that a difference in worldviews in conjunction with a power differential fosters bias toward subordinate worldviews. It is suggested that the profession's ethics require the adoption of the same basic template in the area of spiritual diversity as is used in other areas of diversity.     

Whom Should We Serve? A Discourse Analysis of Social Workers’ Commentary on Undocumented Immigrants

We present a discourse analysis of social work practitioners’ commentaries on undocumented immigrants that were collected from a survey of practicing social workers’ attitudes toward immigration and immigrants. Analyzing 198 open-ended comments, we explore the discursive mechanisms practitioners employ to construct undocumented immigrants, and their professional responsibilities toward them. These views are illustrative of the ways in which the profession determines inclusion and exclusion, writ large in national immigration policies and laws and played out in the arenas of social work and social services. Disparate views of practitioners highlight tensions in the profession's relationships to law and social policies as well as to its own ethics and identity.     

Social Work Education's Role in Addressing People and a Planet at Risk

As the nature of the earth's ecological crisis becomes increasingly dire and impossible to ignore and as global concern continues to increase, social work, with its investment in issues of justice and its commitment to a person-in-environment perspective, needs to more aggressively evaluate its place in this crisis. This paper presents a study designed to explore US social work students' attitudes, interests in, and practices related to the environment, as well as their perceptions of the place for environmental issues in the social work curriculum. This study's findings suggest that social work students' attitudes toward the environment are generally consonant with those of the US population, and that there is strong interest in enhancing the amount and scope of exposure to environmental issues in the social work curriculum. A sizable majority of all social work students surveyed view environmental justice as an important aspect of social justice and a viable area of concern for social workers, and they expressed an interest in seeing more content on environmental justice in social work education. Suggestions for integrating this content into the curriculum via inter- and trans-disciplinary, and service-learning approaches are discussed.     

MOVING TOWARD A MORE INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT? A MULTI-SAMPLE EXPLORATION OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF STUDENTS FROM VARIOUS FAITH TRADITIONS

This multi-sample study of master of social work students from various faith traditions (N=391) explores the extent to which religious discrimination is perceived to exist as a problem in social work education programs. No difference in perceptions emerged between religiously affiliated and non-affiliated respondents. Evangelical Christians generally reported higher levels of discrimination than theologically liberal and mainline Christians. The confirmation of the second hypothesis suggests that professional attention may be needed to ensure compliance with the profession's ethical and educational standards, while the failure of the first hypothesis suggests that progress toward a more inclusive educational environment may be occurring.