HCS103 Topic 11

Social work and
human services
practice
in Crime and
Corrections
Acknowledgement: Slide content from Karen Bell

Consider...
• Micro level issues – job loss, career loss, emotional, physical, psychological,
stress, independence, stability, income, access to resources, blaming the victim
• Meso level – children? Families, work colleagues, social group, perceptions of
others/ stigma/interactions with immediate others, victimhood, ability to provide,
resources, etc.
Employing organisation, duty of care to others,
• Macro level – legislation, policies, stigma, cultural issues, cultural relativism,
economic – productivity,
• Social justice and human rights issues – safety, freedom from violence/
persecution 2

What is a ‘Crime’?
• Polluting the environment with noxious gases.
• Procuring an abortion.
• Profaning the Sabbath, or speaking against parents.
• Drinking alcohol.
• Consenting homosexual liaison.
• Possession of small quantities of marijuana.
• Speaking against Government policy.
• Euthanasia/infanticide.
• Conscientiously objecting to fighting in a war as a conscript.
• Legislating away rights such as 'native title'.
3
How do history,
location, culture,
religion etc
influence what is
considered
‘crime’?

Crime- A social construction
Crimes, then, are wrongs which the judges have held or
Parliament has laid down … are sufficiently injurious to the
public to warrant the application of criminal procedure to deal
with them (Smith & Logan, cited in Bales 1996, p.73)
- Preserve the social order
- Conflicts between individual and society
4

Issues in the measurement of crime
- Defining crime
- Occurrence of a criminal act
- Reporting to police
- Police following up on report
- Arrest
- Prosecution in court
- [No conviction]
- Conviction - community corrections
- imprisonment
5

Generalised Offender Characteristics
‘Offenders’ are likely to be…..
- male
- 16 – 25 years of age
- poor
- Indigenous
- low school achievers
- unemployed
- poor health, mental health, intellectual capability
6

Data from the Australian Institute of Criminology data (for
period 2007-2009)
93% prisoners are male/ 7% of prisoners are women, up from 4% in 1984
68% convictions result in community orders
32% convictions result in incarceration (57% of prisoners have been in prison
before)
57% all prisoners are under 35 years of age
For both males and females, 25 to 34 year olds had the highest
imprisonment rates in 2005, followed by 18 to 24 year olds. (www.aic.gov.au)
7

2005 - Adult Indigenous imprisonment rate was almost 15 times higher
than the rate for non-Indigenous persons.
Juvenile Indigenous imprisonment rate – 23 times higher than non-
Indigenous rate.
52% juvenile detainees are Indigenous. The rate has been declining since
1997.
Indigenous prisoners comprised 22% of the total prisoner population in
2005, compared with 14% in 1992.
77% of Indigenous prisoners were known to have previously been in
prison.
(www.aic.gov.au)
8

Myths and common misconceptions about statistics in crime and criminal justice…. What
do you think? TRUE OR FALSE?
1. If you are going to be murdered, it will be by a stranger.
2. Kids are at an increased risk of being abducted these days
3. Older people are at the greatest risk of being a victim of crime
4. The streets are not as safe as they once were
5. Women are more likely to be raped by a stranger than by someone they know
6. Young adult women are the most likely victims of sexual assault
10

Limitations of crime statistics (AIC 2011)
Based on reported crimes from police, court and prison records.
Problems in data from these sources include:
• Police records record charges, not convictions
• Different methods of collection
Based on crime surveys to assess actual rates of crime -
• Estimated 20% of all sexual assault offences reported
11

What causes crime?
Classical theorists – individual choice
Positivist theorists – individual pathology (biological,
psychological, bio-social – nature/nurture
Criminology – social strain (opportunity),
interactionist (labelling), power / inequality (marxist &
feminist perspectives)
12

Impacts of crime / are these things ‘crime’?
Who is affected when…?
- a car is stolen
- a river is polluted
- food is shoplifted
- a house is burgled
- drugs are consumed
- when an underage person engages in sex
- a cashier dies during an armed robbery
13

What are the goals of criminal justice / corrections?
Punishment
Retribution
Rehabilitation
Deterrence
Incapacitation
Restoration – victim, offender, community
14

Current issues in crime and corrections
• Privatisation
• Containment of costs
• New programs
• Specific populations
• Correctional theory
15

Social work, welfare and roles for human service workers
Social welfare is about
- improving social functioning
- individual worth, dignity, empowerment, self-determination,
social justice, etc
- alternative dispute resolution, mediation (transformative
practice)
(Taylor & Swain 2013)
16

Practice Models
Justice model – individual accountability
Welfare model – assisting individuals and
communities
17

Levels of SW intervention
Primary – whole community, crime prevention
community development
(e.g. crime prevention strategies, education, mentoring)
Secondary – at risk groups, diversion
(e.g. education, group work, employment programs, etc)
Tertiary – individual offenders, correctional programs, rehabilitation
(e.g. court support, pre-sentence assessments, probation support
/supervision, case management, transition to community)
18

Some Practice Dilemmas
• Multiple clients / complexity (community, organisation as well as individual)
• Legal authority – court order & conditions can restrict interventions –
compliance & breach
• Organisation context – safety / security / privatisation / policy
• Social control / social care – how to strike a balance?
• Client self-determination – key concept in SW, how to reconcile offenders’
CSD with community/individual CSD
• Advocacy – access to resources, stigma, service eligibility, effects of having
a criminal record
19

Justice
• Retributive punishment, deterrence
• Restorative
- aim to restore dignity of both victim and offender
- negotiation / mediation
- not punishment
- reconciliation, reparation, restitution
20

References
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) 2005, 2011, 2015 Australian
Crime: Facts and figures. www.aic.gov.au.
Moore, E. 2005. ‘Criminal justice – extending the social work focus’. In
Alston, M. & McKinnon, J. (eds) 2005 Social Work Fields of
Practice. Melbourne, OUP, chapter 16.
Taylor, A. & Swain, P. 2013. ‘Social work practice and the justice system’.
In Connolly, M. & Harms, L. (Eds.) Social work contexts and
practice. Melbourne, OUP, chapter 23.
21

HCS103 Topic 11

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