The Role Of Social Workers In Prisons

The role of social workers in penitentiary institutions is of great importance because they have the task of implementing the objectives prescribed by the constitution.

Even if you may not know it , the United States – with 716 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants – has more prisoners than any other country. And the current occupancy rate in US prisons is close to 2,298,300.

Therefore, imprisonment and security measures, taking into account the Constitution, must focus on social rehabilitation.

Mercedes Gallizo, a Spanish politician, pointed out that

She further stated that “It is high time for modern society to free itself from the idea that incarceration is an inevitable fate for anyone who commits criminal acts. It is simply not reasonable ”.

Although we live in complicated times in terms of the functioning of the legal system, we must remember that as long as no changes are made, we must still comply with current criminal laws.

Thus, we must also observe the universal declaration of human rights, even if the penalty is imprisonment.

The role of social workers : objectives and guiding principles

Contrary to popular belief , the main purpose of a deprivation of liberty should be to rehabilitate and prepare the person concerned for a future life in freedom.

He must learn to understand social norms and the mandate of the law with the help of the pedagogical, technical and professional means available.

In order to achieve these objectives, those responsible should take into account the following principles:

• Individual adaptation.
• Obtaining an education degree.
• The treatment of the prisoners.
• The fulfillment of a prison sentence that gives the prisoner social roots.
• Communication with the outside world and exit permits.

The role of social workers in penitentiaries

This is a discipline that is relatively new in prison care. The job of social workers is to act as a link between the prison service and the outside world.

Above all, they try to prevent deprived persons from becoming rootless by acting as “intermediaries” between them and their surrounding family and social environment.

Among the social workers’ functions in penitentiary institutions, one notices in particular:

• Carry out evaluations of unemployment, study permits, special permits and housing permits.
• Preparation of reports for the management of probation, for the granting of incentives through the progressive scale of exit permits, for the classification in periods of the technically progressive system and for all internal activities.
• In addition, all these functions must include visits by companies, training centers and victims or relatives of victims. And also of the housing of the prisoners concerned, depending on the procedure to be applied.
• They must also provide follow-up and monitoring.

The role of social workers in education

Society as a whole shows a clear dissatisfaction with the consequences of the punishments imposed by the judiciary. There is no doubt that something has failed. And in some cases, those failures are obvious.

Despite this, the cases where the system does not work have great news value.

Therefore, we should emphasize the importance of social education in prisons. Admittedly, these centers may appear to be unsuitable environments for education. However, the system should offer new opportunities for the inmates.

And this is especially true for those who have a proactive attitude and are looking for alternatives to be able to face the future in a positive way.

It is a complicated and challenging task, where different points of view somehow converge to focus on education in the hope of finding a solution.

This is the case, even though there is a tendency to seek psychological, medical or psychiatric explanations for all criminal acts.

This excludes special educational interventions, as one no longer takes into account a person’s willingness to change his life and the importance of an education to enforce this change.

The educational and recreational activities should aim to make the inmates more aware of the development of their life outside the institution.

They should also focus on raising the sense of social belonging and striving to pursue activities that are in the public interest.

Of course, these tasks can mean that the inmates learn to look at reality from a new perspective.

How can civic education be useful?

Social education can be beneficial in many different ways, such as:

• Social skills.
• Prevention of drug addiction.
• Literacy program.
• Health information.
• Vocational training and application that facilitates integration into society and the workplace.

• Civic education for all.

Promoting work in prisons is a difficult challenge.

But for the system to work, it is important that the inmates acquire the values, skills and strengths that enable them to live their lives in freedom as integrated members of society.

We must not forget that a successful rehabilitation also benefits the rest of the population.