Gabriela Thompson

1 posts

Re: Topic 8 DQ 1

Hello everyone,

According to this week’s material, corrections is the process for which people who have broken the law receive rehabilitation (Farley et al., 2011). The role of the social worker in the corrections system is to modify the offender’s behavior to reduce recidivism among those who are incarcerated. Some of the behaviors and obstacles that social workers may face are those who are suffering from addiction or many individuals who have had adverse childhood experiences. Individuals who have lived the vast majority of their lives displaying deviant behavior will need to learn an entirely new thought process on how they should behave. This can be challenging to the social worker as these individuals will have to learn these new methods of behavior in a tough environment. These obstacles become less of an issue once the offender is out on either probation or parole and can achieve socially desirable objectives in a noninstitutional setting (Farley et al., 2011).

For many years the criminal justice system had a punitive attitude when it came to corrections. However, this has been changing in recent years to decrease the number of repeat offenders re-entering the corrections system. The very idea of “corrections” is to correct the offender’s behavior so that they can live their lives as law-abiding citizens. If the idea is strictly to punish the offender, these individuals may never be able to obtain the skills needed to change their behavior and path in life. Capital punishment is an example of punitive sentencing that expresses the idea that some people cannot be rehabilitated. While a person’s crimes may have been severe, there is always a psychological reason for why they committed these acts that may be addressed.

References

Farley, O. W., Smith, L. L., & Boyle, S. W. (2011). Introduction to social work (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN-13: 9780205001972

Class,

Social workers in the the department of corrections play many different roles. They may work with inmates and counsel them, help with grant writing,rehabilitation services and so much more. “A social worker practicing in corrections settings can end up in a variety of roles. In this field, a social worker may:

Perform counseling to help individuals proceed through the rehabilitation process

Provide key clinical counseling for those with behavioral disorders or facing mental health challenges

Advocate for inmate rights in consultation with correctional institution administrators

Research grants and external services that could promote health and safety in a correctional environment” (n/a.(2021) The conflicting issue could be if you disagree as a Christian with any of the issue like the death penalty and have to work with clients or others regarding this. There may be other issues that come that you can relate to that affect you that you have to not let your personal views affect your job.