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American Social Work, Corrections and Restorative Justice: An Appraisal

NCJ Number
206517
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 449-460
Author(s)
Edward J. Gumz
Date Published
August 2004
Length
12 pages
Annotation
After examining the historical presence of American social work in corrections, this article reviews social work's recent decline in corrections, followed by an assessment of social work's potential involvement in corrections under the emerging restorative justice model in the United States and Europe.
Abstract
Historically, American social work has been involved in the field of corrections through probation casework, participation in the founding of the juvenile court, and rehabilitative work with inmates in correctional institutions. When the ethic of rehabilitation in corrections waned under the doctrine of retribution for its own sake, the role of social workers in corrections also diminished; however, this change in correctional philosophy was not the only factor in the decline of social work in corrections. The priorities of the social work profession also changed, as it has increasingly focused on psychotherapy while moving away from a focus on community service. The objectives of obtaining higher salaries and professional status have led to a shift away from working with at-risk or disfranchised population, such as persons in correctional settings. Yet social workers continue to be involved with the children of inmates and the treatment of drug-abusing offenders. Also, social workers provide many of the mental health services received by mentally ill offenders. Restorative justice, an emerging influential model for criminal justice, including corrections, focuses on repairing the harm done by an offense by involving the victim, the offender, and the community in interactions, deliberations, and actions that address victims' needs, offenders' needs to be accountable and change criminal behaviors, and the community's need to improve public safety and victim services. The emphases of restorative justice may attract more social workers to corrections enterprises. American social workers who are active in the field of corrections can learn much about the application of the principles of restorative justice in their work through the example of the role of social workers in the United Kingdom's implementation of restorative justice. In the United Kingdom, social workers have been active in applying the concepts of restorative justice to victims and offenders in the community. One of the primary reasons for this is the British welfare state's relatively robust provision of a variety of services to its citizens. 30 references