Social Work and Criminal Justice
The Uneasy Alliance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15434243 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frederic G Reamer (0000-0001-6324-7623, Providence College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1/2 |
| Pages | 213-231 |
| Publication date | 2004-03-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work Social Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1542-6432 • E-ISSN: 1542-6440 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1300/j377v23n01_12 |
| OpenAlex | W1600499437 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 6 |
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)
Criminal justice · Criminology · Economic Justice · Political science · Principal (computer security · Public relations · Sociology · Theory of criminal justice · Work (physics · Child Abuse and Trauma · Engineering · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work
Doing Qualitative Research in a Controlled Site
Social Work and Criminal Justice
Preparing Social Work Students for Law Enforcement Roles
A Qualitative Study of Victim Offender Mediation
Racial Erasure
A Rights-Based Approach to Social Work in Jails
Infusing Criminal Justice Content Into the Graduate Social Work Curriculum
Gatekeeping Family Violence
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |