Correctional Social Workers Work example essay topic

Social workers play a vital role in many aspects of our society, from the court system to the correctional facilities in which they work. The lives of the incarcerated clients, in addition to those who have been released, and the members of our society as a whole can contribute something to society. According to California's Occupational Guide "correctional Social Workers work with juvenile or adult offenders to determine and correct the causes of anti-social behavior. They may work with youth groups or gangs. They conduct pre-hearing and pre-sentencing investigations and present social histories to the courts. Parolees and probationers readjust to society" (California Occupational Guide, On-line).

The social worker that works in a correctional institute has an immense responsibility which includes rehabilitation, and the prevention of recidivism of each client. The development of social workers originated early as specific organizations of society that noticed underprivileged people needed assistance with their problems and did so by addressing their needs in various ways. As The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia states "The development of Social work as a profession out of the early efforts of churches and philanthropic groups to relieve the effects of poverty, to bring the comforts of religion to the poor, to promote temperance and encourage thrift, to care for children, the sick, and the aged, and to correct the delinquent" (2003). The early efforts of these groups gave the poverty-stricken community a voice to be heard and aided society by recognizing that there was a social problem that needed to be addressed in serving these urgent needs. In 1874 the National Conference of Charities and Correction (now called the National Conference on Social Welfare) was organized in the United States.

The evolution of the independent sector, now known as social work, from the broad category of the social sciences was a gradual process which began in the late nineteenth century. Public relief and private philanthropic efforts remained largely matters of local and state concern until after 1930, when the federal government entered the field of social work on a large scale to cope with the effects of the great depression (2003). The government became more aware of the need for social workers to have their own programs to attend to the needs of society's less fortunate. In addition, three authors Miller, Hollis and Taylor respectively stated, "In these early years, those who saw themselves as "social workers" were often intimately involved with the criminal justice system and with juveniles sentenced to reform schools and youth facilities at the times".

(Miller. On-line). The name of this new organization betrayed the fact that until the mid 1920's, a substantial amount of social work effort was directed at institutional "wards"- individuals confined to prisons, reform schools, state schools for the "feeble-mined", and state mental hospitals. The efforts of social workers relative to delinquents were predominately directed at moving them from almshouses to appropriate institutional care (Hollis & Taylor). According to The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Social work had not yet been fully recognized as a profession at this point in time, but gradually gained its popularity as programs and the number of social workers grew in numbers. Resources were made available, the number of social workers was greatly increased, and it became necessary to coordinate public and private activities.

Social work has been steadily professionalized, and special graduate schools as well as departments in universities have been established to train social workers (2003). In retrospect, Social work has emerged as a recognized professional endeavor to serve the needs of others as the government showed support of certain societal needs that has promoted the field of social work. Growing up, many children experience innumerable situations that effect the decisions they make, which affects the outcome of their life as a whole. One theory is that if children are raised in abusive atmospheres, they may in turn develop into criminals.

People wonder what turns a criminal into a criminal, which lead them to a life of crime, jail time, and to eventually need the aid of a social worker. In the past, research on child abuse and neglect has suffered from a number of methodological problems that have hindered the assessment of long-term consequences, particularly outcomes into adulthood (Widom 1989). Children are exposed to various aspects of life, from playing in the park to being tucked in at night; unfortunately not all children get this luxury, and are exposed to negative experiences. A study was conducted by Cathy Spat Widom, who researched the probability of abused and neglected children's odds of having a higher likelihood of arrests for delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior. The results of the study states, "Being abused or neglected as a child increases a person's risk for an arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for a violent crime by 38 percent [Violent crimes include arrests for robbery, assault, assault and battery, battery with injury, aggravated assault, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, or reckless homicide, murder or attempted murder, rape, sodomy, and robbery and burglary with injury]" (Widom, T.C.O.V. ). Men and women exhibit their anger differently.

Although males generally have higher rates of criminal behavior than females, being abused or neglected in childhood also increases the risk of adult arrest for females by 77 percent over non-abused and non-neglected control group females. As adults, abused and neglected females are at increased risk for property, drug, and public order offenses, but not for violent offenses (Widom, T.C.O.V. ). Men and women handle their aggressions in different manners, as women tend to be less violent then men. While many people go down the wrong path of life by making irreversible mistakes, some realize their mistakes and make efforts to change their life around. At the heart of the Strength Perspective is a belief in the basic goodness of human kind, a faith that individuals, however downtrodden or debilitated, can discover strengths in themselves that they never knew existed. The strength or empowerment approach is a crucial part of effective therapy and increasingly articulated in the social literature (Mulla y, 1993).

Once people enter jail, they may feel as though there is no goodness in them due to the lifestyle they have chosen to live. Weick, Rapp, Sullivan, and Kisthardt (1989) rationalize that people often have a potential that is not commonly realized. A belief in human potential is tied to the notion that people have untapped, undetermined reservoirs of mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual abilities which can be mobilized in times of need. This is where professional helping comes into play in tapping into the possibilities, tapping into not what is, but what can be (Weick, Rapp, Sullivan, and Kisthardt, 1989). Most offenders may feel as though their self worth is judged by the nature of their crime. As a professor at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls explains, for such persons, whose views of therapy and of all authority figures are apt to be decidedly negative, a positive approach is essential to establish the one crucial ingredient of effective treatment is trust.

Sometimes one encounter or one supportive relationship whether with a teacher, social worker, or priest can offer a turning point in a life of crime. Once people see that someone else has faith in them, they in turn show faith in themselves. An example of a prisoner's success story is one explained by Faith (1993), Jean Harris, a high school principal an exclusive girls school, committed murder in a drug-affected state, and she also found repentance and even humility of sorts in prison. During her term at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York state, Harris was credited with setting up a thriving model Children's Center operated by prisoners (Faith, 1993). An important task for a social worker is to make this change seem simple for the offender, and to make them realize that the most important task for their rehabilitation strategy is to take responsibility for the crime that they committed. The treatment relationship can serve as a powerful tool for helping the client change cognitive misconceptions that result in self destructive that result in self destructive thoughts and behaviors.

Even in a life most crushed by circumstances of time and place, there nevertheless exists the potential for actions other than those (for example, heavy drinking, violent outbursts, etc.) that have become problematic. This belief in the human potential is at the core of the therapeutic relationship (van Wormer & Boys). Many inmates may first be reluctant to believe in the rehabilitative process of the Strength perspective, they change their mind once they find someone they can trust, and someone that does not see them for the crime that they committed, but for the potential productive member in society that may live within. Anita Rozas, a social worker in the Western Maryland Correctional Facility, works in a facility with 1,800 inmates, four social workers, one addiction counselor and a psychologist. The starting salary with a master's degree is $33,500, and increases to $45,000 - $58,000 after ten years in the state of Maryland.

The average time that an inmate will serve in this facility is twenty-two years with a sixty-five percent recidivism rate. She was interviewed to determine the role of a social worker in a correctional atmosphere. When asked what her most important duty as a social worker in a correctional facility was, she stated, "To be there for my clients. To talk to them in an unbiased manner, and to help them work through their personal and social issues" (A. Rozas, personal communication) I admired how the most important thing to her was to show her clients the utmost respect and listen to them without judgment. It is important to follow the rules of Ethics; the self-worth of every client is the most important thing, and the most effective way to get positive results because trust and respect are significant to communicating. Her duties include counseling her clients through three groups that she runs, as well as on a one-on-one individual basis.

She made it clear that her programs are not to rehabilitate the inmates, but to change the flawed thinking that they have about their social and personal problems. She incorporates the strength perspective in her counseling sessions. It is important that the inmates realize that they have the potential to do many great things, and she helps them bring that potential to the light. The groups are cognitive based, which gives the clients a cognitive self-help opportunity to re-evaluate their thought process, and to apply new thinking skills. She teaches them to think, and not to act. The process to establish new thinking strategies takes eighteen months to be successful.

In order to manage her group and individual sessions successfully, she needs to be prepared to elaborate on release planning, HIV counseling, Child support rights, every kind of social issue, basic social work. Being fully prepared to answer all questions, shows she has a great deal of dedication, respect, and support for her clients, this is also called applying the generalist practice. Her knowledge on everything, allows her to assist her clients in any way necessary. The next question I asked Ms. Rozas was what skills, knowledge, and values she uses on an everyday basis when working with her clients. Her answer was "The most important skills I use are interpersonal, clear communication and networking skills" (A. Rozas, personal communication). Ms. Rozas explained that the networking skills were vital to her clients when their release arrangements need to be made, such as Medicare, social security, child support, drug programs to keep her clients clean off of drugs, and the various agencies and organizations through out the state of Maryland that offer released inmates support, guidance, and assistance.

She is able to help them with the best of her ability due to the many connections she has made over the years. The knowledge that she incorporates in her everyday routine with her clients are the code of ethics. She makes the boundaries very clear to them, which include telling them that there is absolutely no touching involved with her services. She did however state that if a client is being released; she gives them the honor of shaking their hand, while congratulating them. This keeps the lines of communication clear, and ensures the clients that there is no funny business allowed.

The values that she uses with her clients are very up front. In her words, "I show them respect and dignity that they deserve as human beings. I let them know the importance of their being, and inherit their worth as a person, not an inmate" (A. Rozas, personal communication). Treating all clients as important human beings gives them the dignity that they may have felt that they lost when they became incarcerated. In conclusion, the social worker that works in a correctional institute has an immense responsibility which includes rehabilitation, and the prevention of recidivism of each client.