Criminal Justice Policies: Implications for Social Work

Catalog description

The United States prison population has risen more than three hundred percent in the last three decades. More people are currently incarcerated than at any other point in the history of the United States, and that of the world. This unprecedented period of incarceration has gone largely invisible although it represents one of the greatest social epidemics in the history of the United States. This course provides a critical analysis of the criminal justice system in the United States from a historical and contemporary perspective. It examines the implications of significant criminal justice policies such as the Rockefeller Drug Laws, 3-Strike Legislations, and Mandatory Minimums on the current state of incarceration, and the phenomenon of "Reentry" and "Recidivism". The intersections of criminal justice and social work practice are unmistakable when examining staples of social work practice such as homelessness, mental health and substance abuse, thus the course is intended to facilitate a more informed/holistic practice for all social work students.