Forensic Social Work

2 credits · Graduate

Focuses on issues arising within the practice of forensic social work in correctional settings (jails, prisons, and probation and parole departments), especially practice with people whose social positions and/or mental health struggles render them disproportionately affected by incarceration. Uses a person-in-environment perspective to explore the phenomenology of corrections, paying particular attention to the intersection of social identities and psychological capacities among individuals who are incarcerated, the complexities of the systems within which social workers attempt to create change, and the historical and contemporary role of incarceration in the United States.