Vision for Probation and Court Services - Forensic Social Work - Practice and Vision

• NCJ Number: 105798
• Journal: Federal Probation Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1987) Pages: 63-70
• Author(s): T P Brennan; A E Gedrich; S E Jacoby; M J Tardy; K B Tyson
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This article was published previously, under the title 'Forensic Social Work: Practice and Vision,' in the June 1986 issue of Social Casework: The Journal of Contemporary Social Work, 1986 Family Service America.

Annotation

The article provides a conceptual paradigm for forensic social work through a discussion of clinical and theoretical aspects of practice at the Cook County Circuit Court Social Service Department (Illinois).

Abstract

The forensic social worker, in integrating the polarities of empathic casework and the control and authority of the court, implements a practical link between mental health and criminal justice. By helping clients who fall between the cracks in the two systems, workers provide restorative and preventive services to a population of clients who pose grave risks to themselves and society if left unserved. Workers often are called upon to work with clients who have been unable to profit from therapy in other settings. Cases seen by the department include psychotics, violent alcoholics, and child sexual abusers. In the course of working with such highly resistive clients, forensic social workers also can contribute to theory and practice in the treatment of mentally ill and antisocial individuals. 34 footnotes.