The U.S. leads the world in the total number of incarcerations, imprisoning Americans at a rate of 629 people per every 100,000. And even though the current rate is the lowest in 20 years, the United States in 2022 had more than two million people in prison, according...
prison
When Prisoners Go Home: Preventing Recidivism Among Top Goals for Social Workers
Basic essentials should be set up so when a person is released from prison he or she knows where they are going to live and work.
Women’s Psychological Adjustment to Prison: A Review for Future Social Work Directions
With the increasing number of women in prison, understanding incarcerated women's psychological health is a timely and necessary line of research to guide policy and practices within prisons. This understanding influences prison design, service coordination, and...
NASW Social Justice Brief urges social workers push to end solitary confinement, offers guidance to help inmates
On any given day 80,000 to 100,000 inmates in U.S. prisons, jails or juvenile detention facilities are in solitary confinement. The practice can cause long-term damage to the mental health of inmates. This Social Justice Brief from the National Association of Social...
Social workers discuss criminal justice reform
By Rena Malai, News staff NASW member Sammy Rangel has cumulatively spent about 16 years in prison throughout his life, mainly for charges related to theft and violence. Rangel, who originally is from Chicago, said he started getting into trouble with the law at age...
Returning Home: Reintegration after Prison or Jail
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. In 2013, there were 2.3 million persons in U.S. prisons and jails. Eventually 95% of these people will be released. As of 2013, there are 850,000 persons on parole after release. Yet these people have...
A Social Work Response to Solitary Confinement
In recent years, there has been a growing national movement to challenge the practice and premise for using solitary confinement as a method of behavioral control in the nation’s prisons, jails and juvenile facilities.The strong opposition to solitary confinement is...
Administration Begins to Fulfill Promise to Shorten Certain Drug Sentences
President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have begun to make good on their promise to reform criminal justice sentencing reform and encourage sensible drug policies. A first step toward sentencing reform began with Holder’s March 13, 2014 announcement of a new...