Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State

by Patricia O'Brien, Judith S. Willison

Overview

With violent policing, inhumane detention and imprisonment, community surveillance and loss of civil rights, the criminal legal system is unjust; and it is crucial for social workers to understand and take steps toward change. Under the guise of helping adults in multiple correctional contexts, social workers have historically engaged in efforts that privilege the carceral system and reproduce its harmful apparatus that extends to families and communities. Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State plots a path to change by using an anti-oppressive and transformative approach. Patricia O'Brien and Judith S. Willison critically examine strategies to shift punishment-centered practices to build collaborative partnerships and possibilities toward decarceration and individual and community power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190076771
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/29/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Patricia O'Brien, PhD, MSW, is Associate Professor (retired) at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Nationally known for her advocacy and research on women in and out of prison, she published one of the first studies examining how women succeed in the community after release from incarceration. Judith S. Willison, PhD, MSW, LICSW, is Associate Professor in the Bridgewater State University School of Social Work. Her scholarship focuses on understanding the place of criminalized behavior within existing systems of social inequity and institutionalized white supremacy to support activist interventions.

Table of Contents

PART 1: FOUNDATIONS FOR ANTI-OPPRESSIVE SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE IN THE CARCERAL STATE CHAPTER 1: How We Got Here and Where We Want to Go How We Got Here: Carceral State Summary Where We Want to Go: Social Work in the Carceral State Overview of the Criminal Legal System A Brief History Functions and Components of the Criminal Legal System Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice (AOP) Book Structure and Chapters Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References CHAPTER 2: The Sociopolitical Context of Social Work Practice and the Carceral State Anti-Oppressive Social Work: Why Sociopolitical Context Matters Understanding the Sociopolitical Evolution and Expansion of the Carceral State Defining the Carceral State Evolution and Expansion of the Carceral State Introduction to Institutional Mechanisms of the Carceral State Transforming the Carceral System: Implications of a Sociopolitical Analysis for Anti-Oppressive Social Work Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References CHAPTER 3: An Anti-Oppressive Framework for Social Work Practice in the Carceral State Empowerment and Strengths Perspectives Anti-Oppressive Practice in the Carceral State Engagement Phase Teaching and Learning Assessment Phase Action and Accompaniment Intervention Phase Evaluation Phase Evidence-Informed Practice in the Criminal Legal System Trauma-Informed Care Public Health Approach Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References CHAPTER 4: The Criminalization of People with Mental Illness The Evolution of the Criminalization of Mental Illness Mechanisms of the Criminalization of Mental IllnessAnti-Oppressive Social Work and Public Health Interventions Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References PART 2: ANTI-OPPRESSIVE SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE IN CARCERAL SETTINGS CHAPTER 5: An Anti-Oppressive Social Work Approach to Public Safety and Judicial Responses Anti-Oppressive Social Work and Policing he Changed Nature of Contemporary Police Forces Policing and Community-Based Behavioral Crises An Anti-Oppressive Analysis of Police-Social Work Collaborations A Community-Based Approach to Public Safety Anti-Oppressive Social Work and Problem-Solving Courts Drug Courts Mental Health Courts (MHCs) An Anti-Oppressive Analysis of Problem-Solving Courts Community-Based Restorative Responses Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References CHAPTER 6: Transparency and Transformation in Carceral Detention Healthcare During Detention Suicide in Jail Immigrant Detention Anti-Oppressive Social Work in Jails and Detention Centers Conclusion Expanding Our Vision References CHAPTER 7: Challenges and Possibilities of Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice in Prison with Men The Mass Incarceration of Man The Build-up of Incarcerated Men: A History of Gendered Racism Mechanisms of Men's Criminalization Men's Convictions Violent Crime Men Sentenced to the Death Penalty for Capital Offenses Life Sentences Prison Conditions Solitary Confinement and Supermax Prisons Prison Suicide and Self-Injurious Behavior Health Conditions Practice Interventions with Men in Prison Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References CHAPTER 8: Challenges and Possibilities of Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice in Prison with Women Prison as a Gendered Organization The Buildup of Women's Incarceration: Reform The Buildup of Women's Incarceration: Punishment Characteristics of Women in Prison Women's Convictions Drug Crimes Sexual Crimes Women Sentenced to the Death Penalty for Capital Crimes Pathways to Criminalization Prison Conditions Solitary Confinement Pregnancy/Birth/Loss Sexual Assault in Prison Health Conditions Social Work Practice with Women in Prison Promising Interventions From Prison to the Community: Advocacy and Concluding Thoughts Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References PART 3: LEVELS OF INTERVENTION CHAPTER 9: How Families Resist the Carceral State and MoveToward Healing Parental Incarceration Caregiving Compounded Pain: The Child Welfare System Visitation During Incarceration Community Rebuilding Conclusion Expanding Our Vision Online Resources References

Editorial Reviews

"Anti-oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State is a contribution that fills a significant gap. Increasingly there are calls for anti-oppressive social work, particularly related to carceral systems, and this book provides language and context. O'Brien and Willison have created a text for those who are new to the topic to begin to understand the important issues, and for someone who is familiar, to expand their knowledge. Anyone interested in anti-oppression should add this resource to their library." — Henrika McCoy, PhD, Associate Professor, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago

"It's not easy to find space for anti-oppressive frameworks in a place that is created for and animated by oppression. And yet this space is in deep need of both humanity, for those who are currently locked in, and disassembled. O'Brien and Willison attend to both sides of this spectrum with wisdom, strategies for anti-oppressive social work practice, and some of the most important ethical considerations for this period in social work. The books attention to practice and ethics makes it invaluable to students and practitioners." — Elizabeth L. Beck, PhD, Professor, School of Social Work at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Georgia State University

"The social work profession is at a critical point where we must question our role in maintaining the carceral state and the conflicts this creates with our professed values. Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State raises the important questions we must consider and provides some paths forward. If the profession does not address the questions raised in this important text, it risks moving towards irrelevancy." — Alan Dettlaff, Dean and Maconda Brown O'Connor Endowed Dean's Chair, University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work

"Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State delivers fully and dynamically on its stated promises. Patricia O'Brien and Judith Willison offer a creative and timely book that greatly expands the reader's grasp of the U.S. carceral state as a whole and as a set of parts. The contours and mechanisms of Its operations and unjust aspects are clearly illuminated through illustrations from the reports of people caught up in the bowels of the carceral state and from the reflections of experienced social work practitioners." — Barbara Levy Simon, PhD, Professor Emerita and Special Lecturer, Colombia School of Social Work

"Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice and the Carceral State stands out as a timely and practical book." — Ran Hu, Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work

"Despite the many differences between American and Czech prison system, the book offers thought-provoking reflections especially for social workers and community-oriented workers. I must also highlight the intersectional approach of the authors, who throughout the book in virtually all respects emphasize the complex relationships and unequal positions of the various actors in every aspect of the book, without resorting to economic or cultural reductionism. However some of the ideas in the book may be considered radical, the authors offer convincing arguments based on concrete data and research, and more importantly, on problems they describe, they offer very concrete and practical solutions." — Jarda Michl, Česká kriminologie

From the Publisher