Effective social work practices and interventions during reentry from prisons to the community: a literature review
Fri, September 13, 2:00 to 3:15pm, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: Ground floor, Room 1.05Abstract
This presentation is based on a literature review (a sub-study of an ongoing research project “Multi-agency social work to support clients released from prison in a digitalizing society”), that seeks to find social work practices and interventions that have been proven effective. Data consists of peer review international scientific articles and the literature review follows the PRISMA statement. The databases that have been used are Web of Science, Scopus and SOCIndex.
A theory-driven realistic synthesis has been used and it is based on the hypothesis of desistance and well-being theories. A hypothesis for the analysis is that social programs are embedded in complex systems. Also, social work and social services are seen broadly in this study. The data is selected by the tasks and meaning of social work, and how it is implemented in the criminal justice with releasees.
As the preliminary results, a strength-based social work seems to be an emphasized approach when working with releasees. When it comes to the desistance and reentry to the society, it is important to support family and intimate relationships as well as housing and employment issues. When assessing releasees needs for support and planning the pre- and post-release, individualized plans based on individual needs are critical for the successful reentry. In addition, ensuring that post-release social services are equal and equitable with other social work and social services clients, seems also to be important for desistance.