Critiques of Social Work Practice in Carceral Systems

Social work’s history in the United States is intertwined with the development and expansion of criminal-legal systems. As the profession of social work has remained centrally involved in criminal punishment, immigration enforcement, policing, and child welfare contexts, critiques of social work practices in these settings have proliferated. From the perspective of abolitionists, social work’s presence in coercive, controlling, or punitive settings is troublesome. The ethical obligations of social workers, as dictated by the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, may be in direct conflict with the tasks expected of social workers in punitive institutions. Examining the role of social work in policing, jails/prisons, child welfare/family policing, immigration, and probation/parole, it is clear that social workers have long held an investment in working with marginalized individuals and families. However, social workers’ investments in these institutions often translate into professional actions that promote punishment, social exclusion, family separation, and coercion. Critiques of social work practice in carceral systems are largely grounded in the ways in which social workers have historically constrained choice, reinforced hierarchies, and deferred to more punitive professions such as police and correctional officers. In and around these punitive institutional contexts, however, social workers have also identified ways of practicing which disrupt carceral norms and logics. This suggests that there are ways of practicing social work that are responsive and in direct conflict with the harmful practices and attitudes perpetuated by carceral systems; these kinds of social work practices often fall under the umbrella of abolitionist social work, a relatively novel professional framework that prioritizes liberation and self-determination for all people through dismantling harmful institutions and building newer, more liberatory structures.