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Social Work, Corrections, and the Strengths Approach

NCJ Number
187276
Journal
Canadian Social Work Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 98-111
Author(s)
Katherine van Wormer; Mary Boes
Date Published
1999
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the contribution of social workers to the field of criminal justice.
Abstract
Under the modern political agenda, punishment comes first and treatment last. Yet social workers can make a major contribution to the field of criminal justice, in terms of both one-on-one counseling and shaping policy. The social work profession is dedicated to maximizing the dignity and worth of individuals and to reinforcing their strengths and resources. Within the social work literature, a focus on client strengths has received increasing attention in recent years. The strengths perspective has been applied to work with the mentally ill, child welfare, homeless women in emergency rooms, the elderly, and African-American families. The concept of strength is also part of the growing literature on empowerment, feminist therapy, narrative therapy, client/person-centered approach, and the ethnic-sensitive model. Empowering and rehabilitative goals are not the goals of most correctional systems or penal institutions in which social workers are employed. However, the article concludes, social workers should not relinquish their correctional role, should never underestimate the power of an approach based on strengths, on possibility rather than probability, and on situations rather than problems. References

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