Social Work in the Justice System

This subject explores the some facets tender conk out(p) imparts in collaboration with the venomous beneficialice arrangement escaping general nonice as well as the berths played in the discriminatory court systems. This paper takes a look at the point and the many purposes of rhetorical brotherly carry.Covering their role in multidisciplinary easing teams and collaboration between tender solveers and legalityyers in fell confession also the eccentric person service friendly wee-wee practitioners provide to inmate populations the active social function in an inmates daily smell both during their decl atomic number 18 as well as the service and c be a rhetorical social relieve oneselfer will be providing following an inmates release and reintegration back into society.A bowl of social change state not widely publicized or ac companionshipd by the majority of the American population, pointing out the insufficiency of interest in the field by the Unive rsities religious offering accredited social Work degree political platforms and the directional opportunities lost because of the lack of realization of this field of social realise practice. The Field of forensic tender Work Its Function in the Criminal arbiter organization and the Populations Who Benefit forensic loving work is not a field widely known to students analogous myself.For those majoring in affectionate work in colleges and universities throughout the United States this crabby field of social work practice is not really offered as often as other variants like helping skills or social insurance policy. Its an issue I await as becoming a problem in the near future day because of the field and its functions. The educational opportunities presented in teaching forensic social work atomic number 18 in my opinion in my opinion. Its functions totally include policy and program cultivation. Mediation, advocacy and arbitration, teaching, training and superv ision as well as ehavioral science research and analysis just to name a few.We the students are at a loss by a lack of acknowledgement of the field rhetorical Social work and it not being an offered course taught deep checkmate our curriculum is a travesty to the future of the social work profession and the population forensic social workers advocate for. The objective of this paper is to mold to light a field in social work not widely publicized or acknowledged by a large majority of universities offering social work programs.Escaping widespread notice, a substantial number of social workers function in the space in which noetic wellness concepts and the law form a gestalt says (Hughes & ONeil. (1983). approximately of those whose social work service fall under spirit realms that net up the field of forensic social work dont even know it. Why is it then, that in a field in which the services provide so much to those with so little, with a big base of knowledge utilizing a broad base of skill, skill spanning crosswise many other palm not just in prefatorial social work practices.Parallel to the growing field of forensic psychological medicine in the criminal justice system is the growing field of forensic social work. Its development is dependent on that of forensic abnormal psychology For this reason forensic social work it goes unobserved (Hughes, et. al. , 1983). I motivation to shed some much deserved light on this overleap field of service. It is a field of social work that needs to be preserved in its collaboration with the criminal justice system.Stewart Sinclair points out that Forensic Social Work continues to work directly with patients and to maintain a look-sustaining link between the family and the institution. (S. Sinclair, 2002 ,Sam Peckinpahs forensic social work colour will the tin star keep shining) Forensic Social work is not a field widely known to students such as myself. For those majoring in Social work in colleges and universities in the United States this particular field of social work practice is not offered as often as other courses such as helping skills or possibleness and practice.Its an issue I see as becoming a problem in the near future because of the fields functions. The educational opportunity presented in teaching forensic social work is valuable. The functions alone include policy and program development. Mediation, advocacy and arbitration, teaching, training and supervision as well as appearanceal science research and analysis just to name a few. We the students are at a loss by a lack of acknowledgement of Forensic Social work and it not being an offered course in our curriculum.Brownell and Roberts (2002) operationally define forensic social work as policies, practices and social work roles with juvenile and adult offenders and victims of crimes (Brownell P & Roberts AR 2002, A century of social work in criminal justice and correctional settings, Journal of Offender rehabili tation, 35 (2) 1-17, pg. 3) As quantify progressed a growing knowledge and intellectual of mental illness and psychiatric problems became more of a deciding factor in the task of ascertain just and effective dispositions.The criminal justice system is not furnished to provide the proper type of facilitation needed to accommodate. Instead judges and lawyers reached out to community mental health agencies nevertheless they too were unable to adequately provide resources needed. According to Gary Whitmer (1983) resulting from this dilemma the courts adjudicate with a sense of futility, astute that it is not the defendants reasoned criminal intent but an illness that had brought him or her to court and that, if left untreated, this illness will bring the defendant back to court sooner then later.The Office of the appellant Defender (OAD) is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing high quality appellate and post-conviction imitation to indigent persons since 1988. T he office of the Appellate Defenders fills an valuable need in the criminal justice system and advocacy for the destitute. OAD is the second longest-standing institutional indigent defense office and oldest provider of appellate representation to indigent persons convicted of felonies. (www. ppellatedefender. org ) Attorneys participate in the Office of Appellate Defenders comprehensive training program, which focuses on appellate advocacy, lymph node relations, procedural and substantive criminal law. The up and coming collaboration between the fields of Public defense and forensic social work is monumental in the need for holistic trial representation.But the need for holistic representation does not end at sentencing. According to The National joining of Criminal Defense Lawyers describes the catch basin for the reakdown of social services internal communities depicting the defense function within the criminal justice system given by the National Association of Criminal Defe nse Lawyers. The assistance that social workers can provide is an appellate office takes on the role of assisting with the legal representation thorough investigation, mitigation and counseling. Social workers also provide institutional advocacy on behalf of clients. Another important function provided is that of facial expression instruction, support and necessary referrals for clients preparing for release. (M.Rothstien, Reaching through the Prison Wall 2000)The economic value of social works to assist in the interview, evaluation, crisis response, short-term case work, negotiation and referrals in trial offices is admirable. For criminal justice offices, social worker mesh practice generally focuses on investigations and mitigation the grandness of forensic social work in the role of legal representation. . (M. Rothstine 2000) The National Institute of referee research in action journal issue from February 1999 gives an in-depth focus on case management in the criminal justic e system.The services provided are much like if not identical to the processes thought by professor Blake in theory and Practice I. These include intake, assessment, classification, referral, intervention, monitoring, evaluation and advocacy. (National Institution of Justice/ Feburary1999 p. 3) All of which are association with the majority if not all of the fields that make up Social Work. During the assessment stage of the case management process the interview leads into the documentation of individual history. Each individual walking this earth has a unique story to tell.And these stories paint the picture that portrays where we are in our lives at any given point in time. The course of a multidisciplinary mitigation team is to link clients history, life mint, and the commission of the crime accurately and clearly. Often complex, it reveals that the clients behavior stems from a number of integrating factors. In their article, From Misery to Mission Forensic Social Work on Mu ltidisciplinary Mitigation Teams, Guin, Noble and Merrill(2003) provide mitigating factors and circumstances inking characteristics and history to criminal behavior in the representation on behalf of defendants in capital cases (Guin, Noble, and Merrill/ From Misery to Mission Forensic Social Works on Multidisciplinary Mitigation teams) The capital mitigation process comes to life when a social worker, using a life history gravel of investigation, assumes the role of mitigation specialist, who, by capitalizing on social work theory and research, practice knowledge and skills yields vital information that, through objective presentation of fact, guides sentencing decisions. (p. 424)Social Workers are given the task of one of the most important components of building an understanding of the individual youre advocating for and conceptualizing a rundown of an individuals life history. Documenting of a defendants life history a forensic social worker is gaining insight on possible links to the development of criminal behavior. The intake is a way of establishing a rapport and may involve crisis intervention. The interview is almost always performed face to face and may be videotaped for later use in a court of law. close is the assessment phase. This phase involves interviews, substance curse evaluations, and specialized psychological evaluations. almost of the bases covered include family medical history for any red flags involving mental illness, significant incidents of past trauma, this may include both physical abuse, intimate abuse or neglect. Another aspect that is a much importance is the family dynamic. Some criminals come from a childhood of moving from foster shoes to foster home until aging out of the system at the age of 18.Others may come from a financial comfortable family with a chase after and a white picket fence. According to The National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW), the forensic social work practitioner provides consultat ion, education & training, diagnosis, treatment and recommendations in various agencies. In addition, the NOFSW also points out that within the field of forensic social work, a clinician may undertake policy, program development, mediation, advocacy, and arbitration. Green Thrope Traupmann the Sprawling Thicket Australian Social Work/June 2005) pooch and Branson (2000) summarize the Field of Forensic Social Work narrowing it down to 10 core areas.Some of these areas 1. testifying in courts of law as in effect(p) witness. 2. Systematically evaluating individuals so that the resulting information can be used in court or by legal authorities. 3. Investigating cases where criminal pass on may have occurred and presenting the results to judges, juries, and other law authorities. . Recommending to the courts of law ways to resolve, penalise or rehabilitate those found guilty of criminal acts or remissness in civil actions. Also included in the 10 core areas of Barker and Bransons Leg al aspects of Professional Practice in the forensic social work field are to facilitate the court tenacious sentence of the convicted person, monitoring and reporting progress to the courts. 6. Mediate between individuals and groups come to in disputed and conflicts. 7.Testify about superior standards of social work to facilitate cases of possible malpractice or unethical conduct. 8. Facilitate development and enforcement of licensing laws to rate professional practice. 10. Maintain relationships with their own clients that uphold the letter and spirit of the law and ethical principals of their profession. (Barker & Branson Legal aspects of Professional Practice, 2000)Mark Cameron and Elizabeth Keenan created a practice model that is adapted from the structures offered by Grenscavage and Norcross known as The Common Factors Model.Cameron and Keenan provide triplet addition new and potentially useful conceptualizations. First, is the conceptualization developed on the basis of w ays in which factors function in practice as condition and process that are activated and Facilitated by strategies and skills for change? snatch is the System of Action. Suggesting that conditions and processes interact as a system of action factors in return influence each other, inevitably producing change.The third conceptualization is based on Locus of practice competencies. Finally common factors are convinced as pertaining not only to the social worker and the client, but all those conglomerate in the change work, including family, informal social supporters, and helpers in social services, education, health care organizations, and the judicial system. (Cameron & Keenan The Common Factors Model p. 65) Roberts and Brownell (1995) define Forensic Social work as the practice specialty in social work that focuses on Law and educating law professional about social well-being issues and social workers about the legal aspects of their objectives as defined by Barker,(p. 60). Th ey go on to pen a section entitled Professional credit rating of forensic social work as a Field of Practice.This is an important part of why I chose to do my capstone paper on Forensic Social work in the first place. Ive came to take a leak what little attention is given to this particular field of social work practice in general. Roberts and Brownell (1995) discuss the need for social workers them selves to recognize that a specialization in forensics has developed in recent years not just in social work but among other professional groups such as psychology, psychiatry and nursing. A Century of Forensic Social Work Bridging the Past to the Present, 1999) The fact that there should be a trenchant and crowing role for forensic social workers the need to recognize that this area of practice if we were to consider social work in corrections and probation, forensic mental health, substance abuse, family/criminal court, domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, it is a natural outgrowth of the leadership exerted by Jane Adams, Julia Lathrop and other prominent forensic social workers in the late 1800s.