Possibilities and Limits of forensic Social Work in the prison Environment

Abstract

The term forensic refers to anything related to the justice system, the legal system of a state and the responsibilities of social workers in dealing with and resolving legal problems. The very meaning of the term suggests as much. Forensic social work can be broadly characterized as a specialization in social work that focuses on law, legal issues and litigation. In a narrower sense, forensic social work refers to the knowledge, skills, measures and procedures applied when working with forensic social work clients. With this narrower definition, forensic social work can be considered synonymous with the term criminal justice social work (Neszméry, 2021). The primary purpose of our study is to empirically state and define the possibilities, roles and importance of social work in the prison setting. The ethical and legal framework and position of the forensic social worker in the prison setting, as well as their role and scope of practice in this setting, are directly related to this. Secondarily, we analyze crime in the prison environment and its prevention, as forensic social workers also encounter this socio-pathological phenomenon in addition to many others. In connection with this topic and the focus of the study, we also provide a definition of basic terms in the field of forensic social work. We include a number of factors that influence the functioning of a forensic social worker in the prison environment and shape the actual practice of the forensic social worker as the basic starting points of the conducted study and empirical research. The most important factors, which represent the basic starting points of the empirical research and the conducted study, are ranked as follows: practice, representing the basic performance and delivery of social work in the prison environment; prevention, meaning the prevention of criminal behavior and other forms of undesirable behavior in the prison environment; the position of the forensic social worker and all the related possibilities for the performance of his/her position, but also the limitations of the performance of his/her activities in the prison environment; and finally, communication, which constitutes the basic tool and means of communication between the forensic social worker and his/her client in the prison environment, between the state authorities, other organizations and the forensic social worker, but also between the convicted person and his/her family