Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
BJS is the primary statistical agency of the Department of Justice. Topics tracked are crime, courts, corrections, costs of crime, federal judicial system, forensics, law enforcement, recidivism & reentry, tribal crime and justice, and victims of crime."
Crime Data Explorer
"The FBI's Crime Data Explorer (CDE) aims to provide transparency, create easier access, and expand awareness of criminal, and noncriminal, law enforcement data sharing; improve accountability for law enforcement; and provide a foundation to help shape public policy with the result of a safer nation. Use the CDE to discover available data through visualizations, download data in .csv format, and other large data files."
Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP)
The FJSP provides annual data on workload, activities, and outcomes associated with federal criminal cases. BJS acquires information on all aspects of processing in the federal justice system
Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (FDCRP)
"The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) created the Federal Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (FDCRP) to collect the data required of federal law enforcement agencies. Federal law enforcement agencies are surveyed on an annual basis about deaths that fall under the scope of DCRA."
Census of Federal Law Enforcement Officers (CFLEO)
"Collects data from all federal law enforcement agencies with arrest and firearms authority. Data collected include the number of officers working in the areas of criminal investigation and law enforcement, police patrol and response, security and protection, court operations, and corrections, by agency and state."
Human Trafficking - from the Bureau of Justice Statistics
"Direct link to the Bureau of Justice Statistics web site for "Human Trafficking""
EBP is a process in which the practitioner combines well-researched interventions with clinical experience, ethics, client preferences, and culture to guide
The Current State of Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work
This paper highlights existing literature on dissemination and explores the barriers, themes, and trends in EBP through eight expert interviews.
Forensic Social Work Practice Standards: Definition and Specification
Social work practice is coming under increased scrutiny due to increased statutory regulation of practice and promotion of evidence-based practice (EBP). The social work profession has generated minimal, generic practice standards that are not well-suited to modern, specialized practice in social work. Forensic social work is a specialty that is vulnerable to misapplication of generic, minimal practice standards to highly complex clinical situations forensic practitioners face in routine practice.
Forensic Social Work Practice Standards: Definition and Specification
Social work practice is coming under increased scrutiny due to increased statutory regulation of practice and promotion of evidence-based practice (EBP). The social work profession has generated minimal, generic practice standards that are not well-suited to modern, specialized practice in social work. Forensic social work is a specialty that is vulnerable to misapplication of generic, minimal practice standards to highly complex clinical situations forensic practitioners face in routine practice.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) Model Programs Guide (MPG) contains information about evidence-based juvenile justice and youth prevention, intervention, and reentry programs. It is a resource for practitioners and communities about what works, what is promising, and what does not work in juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection and safety.
Evidenced-based Practices from National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
Evidenced-based practice resources related to corrections and law enforcement from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
Social Worker Resources
“While CRISP focuses on Congress and the federal government, social issues such as, child welfare, healthcare, housing, and voting rights are being decided at the state and local levels as well as Congress.”
Characteristics and Outcomes of School Social Work Services: A Scoping Review of Published Evidence 2000–June 2022
“This scoping review examines the literature on school social work services provided to address children, youth, and families’ mental/behavioral health and social service-related needs to help students thrive in educational contexts.”
Social Worker and Social Worker Associates – Laws
“Social Worker and Social Worker Associates – Laws. he RCW and WAC that directly relate to social worker and social worker associates.“
Criminal Justice Social Work in the United States: Adapting to New Challenges
“Criminal justice social workers serve as frontline staff and administrators in criminal justice settings. The criminal justice system encompasses a broad spectrum of public and private agencies and settings.”
The Distribution of Police Officers and Social Workers in US Schools
“In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, scrutiny of police officers—including those in schools—has increased. Social science research has shown that school mental health staff members contribute more to positive student outcomes than school police. Nonetheless, high school students in 37 states are more likely to attend a school with a police officer than with a social worker.”
Legal Review Social Work in the Criminal Justice System
“This legal review provides an overview of international standards and examples from other countries in regulating the social work profession, roles, and functions of social workers in relation to alleged offenders, victims, and witnesses in criminal proceedings, including children in conflict with the law and survivors of violence.”
Lived Challenges to Ethical Social Work Practice in Criminal Justice Settings
“Ethical social work practice within criminal justice settings is fraught with challenges. Through individual interviews in a qualitative study exploring social work practice in diverse criminal justice settings in the northwestern United States, a sub-sample of nine social workers described the difficulties they experience adhering to social work’s professional code of ethics. They identify two primary areas of divergence, conflicting responsibilities and opposing interests, and identify the ways they respond to these challenges and the rationale behind their decisions”
Restorative Justice: A Systematic Re e Justice: A Systematic Review of the Social W view of the Social Work Literature
“Restorative justice is an alternative paradigm for dealing with the effects of crime and wrongdoing that seeks to bring healing to victims, offenders, and the community. Although a key element of social work’s ethical code is the obligation to work toward social justice, this has been viewed primarily as efforts to ensure a fair distribution of resources and opportunities.”
2024 Guide on Social Work Criminal Justice for Social Workers
“This Social Work Portal guide for criminal social workers will cover everything you need to know about criminal justice social work, criminal justice social work jobs, and social workers in criminal justice in general.”
Social Policy and the Future of Criminal Justice
“This article examines social and economic forces which breed criminal violence and discusses policy and program interventions necessary to thwart social disintegration and a permanent underclass.”
About | Social Work & the Criminal Legal System
“The purpose of the Social Work and the Criminal Legal System web site is to promote social work research and teaching focusing on the criminal legal system, broadly defined. We do this by: 1) Promoting networking among social work academics who do research on or teach about the criminal legal system via a directory of interest areas and contact information; and 2) Providing instructional resources for social work faculty interested in teaching about issues related to the criminal legal system.”
Council on Social Work Education | CSWE
National Association of Social Workers NASW—Social Justice
Five social justice priorities serve as guiding principles for NASW's national office and Chapters:
The National Organization of Forensic Social Work
NOFSWwas established to provide for the advancement of education in the field of forensic social work through:
Resources for criminal justice social workers
Social workers play a huge role in helping former prisoners re-enter their communities and stay out of prison. Studies have shown that assisting ex-prisoners in finding and keeping employment, identifying transitional housing, and receiving mentoring are three key elements of successful re-entry; and criminal justice social workers do all of those.
Resources for Law Enforcement
The following publications and tools were created by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.
Journal of Forensic Social Work
“The Journal of Forensic Social Work (JoFSW) contributes to the current forensic knowledge base by publishing peer-reviewed: original empirical research.”
1.11: Social Work in Criminal Justice Settings
“As you have learned from previous chapters, a social worker can find themselves involved in numerous diverse systems depending on their client population and area of specialty. One of the most intimidating and controversial of these systems is the United States criminal justice system. Whether a social worker is tasked with working with inmates housed in jail/prison, rehabilitating individuals on probation/parole, investigating potential child abuse, or defending the rights of crime victims, the criminal justice system is sure to have an enormous impact on nearly every aspect of a client’s case and personal life.”
Teaching Resources | Social Work & the Criminal Legal System
“Below you will find information about social work courses that cover material about the criminal legal system. You are welcome to use material that you find on this page as long as you give the author credit.”
The New Social Worker Magazine
"The social work careers magazine, has been published since 1994. It provides practical articles on social work students, social work ethics, field placement, practice issues, practice specialties, technology in social work, book reviews, and more. The magazine for social work students, recent graduates, and others interested in the social work profession, was founded by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW."
Open Textbooks for Social Work Education
This is a curated list of social work textbooks available at OER repositories from October 2021 conducted by Matt DeCarlo and Anne Marie Gruber. They are primarily curated for higher education in the United States. If you know of any open textbooks in social work that we may have missed, please contact us via email at this site.
Open Social Work
A collaborative project that addresses open education, open access, open science, and the practices that support them.
We are inspired to support the human rights to free access to knowledge and equitable access to education.
OER Commons
Criminal Justice AND Social Work
Social Problems: Continuity and Change
See Chapter 8
Social Work and the Criminal Justice System
In this video lecture created for her community college class, Dr. Hilary Cobb discusses the different ways that social workers work with individuals involved with the criminal justice system.
Criminal Justice Research Organizations
New Research Institute Explores the Intersection of Social Work and Criminal Justice
“The Florida State University (FSU) College of Social Work has launched a new research institute aimed at advancing science, policy and practice to improve the well-being of individuals, families and communities impacted by the criminal justice system.”
Century of Social Work in Criminal Justice and Correctional Settings
Forensic social work is defined as focusing on the law and educating law professionals about social welfare issues and social workers about the legal aspects of their objectives. Today’s forensic social workers practice under pressure and in a harsh policy environment.