Homelessness

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin-Ling Irene Wong ◽  
Claudia J. Vogelsang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Homeless Persons ◽  
Homeless Population ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Definition Of

Homelessness is a major social problem in the United States. The article starts with an overview of homelessness in American history, followed by the definition of contemporary homelessness, its prevalence, and the composition and diverse characteristics of the homeless population. Contrasting perspectives on what causes homelessness are discussed, while the multidimensionality of the homeless experience is explored. The unique experiences of three subpopulations, including homeless persons who are involved in criminal justice, emerging youth leaving foster care, and older homeless persons are further featured. Public and community responses to homelessness are examined, highlighting evidence-based and emerging practices that aim at reducing and preventing homelessness. A discussion of international homelessness follows, as homelessness is recognized as a global issue affecting people living in poverty in both the developed and developing world. The article concludes with discussion of the implications for social work.

Prisoner Re-entry

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Treitler ◽  
Beth Angell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Formerly Incarcerated ◽  
Stable Housing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Physical Health Problems

Each year in the United States, more than 600,000 individuals transition from prisons back to the community upon release. This transition process, referred to as prisoner re-entry, is often fraught with challenges as individuals who in many cases already faced barriers to opportunity prior to incarceration are further marginalized because of the collateral consequences of incarceration. Common challenges experienced by released prisoners include difficulty securing stable housing and employment, limited social support, mental and physical health problems, barriers to social and political participation, and the stigma of a criminal record. Not surprising given the barriers to successful reintegration, recidivism rates are high, and more than half of released prisoners are re-incarcerated within five years. Although punitive approaches were dominant in the United States criminal justice system from the 1970s through the early 2000s, there has been a move toward a more rehabilitative approach since that time, resulting in policy changes that reduce incarceration and support reentry, and expansion of services for prisoners before and after release. Although relatively few social workers are employed in criminal justice settings, the ripple effects of incarceration on social and health outcomes imply that social workers employed in a wide variety of settings can expect to regularly encounter individuals who are at various points in the re-entry process, or families and significant others who are affected secondarily. Social workers will be better prepared to assist formerly incarcerated individuals with an awareness of the issues faced by this population, and the unique barriers they experience in accessing housing, employment, and other resources. This article therefore aims to provide an overview of prisoner re-entry, with a focus on matters relevant to social work researchers and practitioners. As a boundary-spanning profession, social work is ideally positioned to propel forward approaches that prioritize promoting social capital, strengthening communities that receive former prisoners, and adopting a strengths-based lens to rehabilitation and promoting desistance from crime.

Evidence-Based Skills in Criminal Justice

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Specific Practice ◽  
Diverse Groups

This book explores how evidence-based skills and practices can reduce re-offending, support desistance, and encourage service user engagement during supervision in criminal justice settings; and how those who work with service users in these settings could apply these skills and practices to their work. This book is the first to bring together international research on skills and practices in probation and youth justice, while exploring the wider contexts that affect their implementation in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Wide-ranging in scope, it also covers effective approaches to working with diverse groups such as ethnic minority service users, women and young people. There are chapters on specific practice in England and Wales, the United States, Canada, Spain, Belgium, Romania and Australia.

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan A. McCarter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Justice Statistics ◽  
System P

Social work and criminal justice have a shared history in the United States dating back to the 19th century when their combined focus was rehabilitation. But with an increase in crime, this focus shifted to punishment and incapacitation, and a schism resulted between social work and criminal justice. Given current mass incarceration and disparities in criminal justice, social work has returned in force to this important practice. The latest Bureau of Justice Statistics research reports that 1% of all adult males living in the United States were serving a prison sentence of a year or longer (Carson & Anderson, 2016) and rates of diversion, arrest, sentencing (including the death penalty), incarceration, etc., vary considerably by race/ethnicity (Nellis, 2016). This entry explores race and ethnicity, current population demographics, and criminal justice statistics/data analysis, plus theories and social work-specific strategies to address racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals The shifting conceptualization of elder abuse in the United States: from social services, to criminal justice, and beyond

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly L. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team Approach ◽  
Over Time

A variety of forces have shifted the conceptualization of elder abuse over time to where it is almost unrecognizable when compared to its original conceptualization. The field has adopted or embraced whatever social problem is in vogue in an attempt to elevate elder abuse to a recognizable social problem that to date has eluded the field. This paper traces the various influences on the shifting conceptualizations of elder abuse and how those conceptualizations have shaped society's response. The paper concludes by suggesting that multiple conceptualizations can and must co-exist, a framework which is consistent with the multidisciplinary team approach becoming prevalent in the field.

440: Barriers to the Practice of Evidence Based Urology in the United States

2007 ◽  
Vol 177 (4S) ◽  
pp. 147-148
Author(s):  
Philipp Dahm ◽  
Hubert R. Kuebler ◽  
Susan F. Fesperman ◽  
Roger L. Sur ◽  
Charles D. Scales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based

Populism and Liberal Democracy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takis S. Pappas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
The People ◽  
Original Definition ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
Definition Of

Based on an original definition of modern populism as “democratic illiberalism” and many years of meticulous research, Takis Pappas marshals extraordinary empirical evidence from Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, the United States, Spain, and Brazil to develop a comprehensive theory about populism. He addresses all key issues in the debate about populism and answers significant questions of great relevance for today’s liberal democracy, including: • What is modern populism and how can it be differentiated from comparable phenomena like nativism and autocracy? • Where in Latin America has populism become most successful? Where in Europe did it emerge first? Why did its rise to power in the United States come so late? • Is Trump a populist and, if so, could he be compared best with Venezuela’s Chávez, France’s Le Pens, or Turkey’s Erdoğan? • Why has populism thrived in post-authoritarian Greece but not in Spain? And why in Argentina and not in Brazil? • Can populism ever succeed without a charismatic leader? If not, what does leadership tell us about how to challenge populism? • Who are “the people” who vote for populist parties, how are these “made” into a group, and what is in their minds? • Is there a “populist blueprint” that all populists use when in power? And what are the long-term consequences of populist rule? • What does the expansion, and possibly solidification, of populism mean for the very nature and future of contemporary democracy? Populism and Liberal Democracy will change the ways the reader understands populism and imagines the prospects of liberal democracy.

“Of Sound Mind and Body”

2019 ◽  
pp. 64-86
Author(s):  
Frank E. Vandervort ◽  
Vincent J. Palusci
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Drug Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Prenatally Exposed ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Sound Mind

Substance abuse is a major medical and social problem. Estimates suggest that each year some 15 percent of the 4 million babies born in the United States are exposed to drugs or alcohol. Research demonstrates that exposure to these substances is harmful to the children in both the short term and across their developmental trajectory. This chapter summarizes the harms that might result from such prenatal exposure and considers the ways that both federal and state law respond to this. The chapter argues for universal drug testing of newborns in an effort to ascertain whether they have been prenatally exposed to such substances so that treatment and other services can be provided.

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