An Assessment of Social Work in Criminal Justice

Running head: AN ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
An Assessment of Social Work in Criminal Justice
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AN ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Question one
The reduction of reoffending has been a burning issue in Scotland. The whole of the
criminal justice system (SCCJR) along with other agencies like health care services or local
community is responsible for reducing the rate of reoffending. Criminal Justice Social Work
(CJSW) was prepared to address issues related to criminal justice on behalf of the Scottish
Court. The functions of CJSW involves supervising the offenders below the age of 16, to
provide reports regarding the sentencing decisions and to provide statutory supervision to the
offenders (Larson 2018). There are local authorities that are responsible for providing
information to CJSW. However, the staff in CJSW also works in other organizations like
social work service, housing providers, health services, voluntary sector, Scottish Prison,
Service and other partners of the justice system (Butts et al. 2015). The local communities
provide assessment reports like social inquiry reports or home background report. They also
provide information related to the supervision and monitoring of offenders. These reports are
produced to reduce the risk of reoffending and it ensures the safe returning of the offender to
the community (James et al. 2018). Reports are also produced for people who are taken into
custody or when the provision of unpaid work has been provided. There are various reports
like Social Enquiry Report (SER), Community Service Order (CSO), Probation order (PO)
and Supervised Attendance Order (SAO). The purpose of these reports is to provide relevant
information for the Scottish court to carry out the proceedings of the court (Kaiser et al.
2016). This paper is going to examine the role played by CJSW in reducing the reoffending
rates of Scottish Criminal Justice System.
The Social Enquiry Report provides information related to the background of the
offender, this includes the situational information as well as the personal history. However,
the bridge between the Social work and Justice System was laid in the Social Work Act
(1968). The main purpose of Social Work Act (1968) was to replace the punishment system

AN ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
with the welfare system. It also introduced the Children’s Hearing System with generic Social
Work Departments. This law headed to disband the Scotland’s Probation service and it
introduced criminal justice social work. Thus, it successfully demonstrated the major shift
from the English and Welsh Model to a more welfare-based model. In this way, it will help to
reduce the rate of the re-offenders in Scotland. This act also saw the offender as a person who
is in need rather than labelling them as a convict. Moreover, the National Standards and
Objectives for Social Work in the Criminal Justice System also embarked the introduction
of direct funding of criminal justice social work within the Scottish Government. The
information derived through this orders helped the court to deal with the case in an informed
basis. Another act named The Community Justice Act (2016) was introduced to prevent and
reduce the reoffending rates in Scotland. This plan sets out that how both the community and
individual convict can work together to fulfil their responsibility and duties respectively. This
act also sets out seven common Community Justice Outcomes that need to be targeted so the
effective minimization of criminal behaviour can be achieved. Other reports like Community
Service Order is made when the convict has to work unpaid for a specified number of hour in
a community. This procedure is takes place as an alternative custodial sentence. This
procedure is applied to both the summary procedure and solemn procedure; the period can
extend to 80 hours to 300 hours. According to the Association of Directors of Social Work,
the worker in unpaid work spent more than 1 million hours. Types of work like gardening,
graffiti removal, maintaining pathways and a range of other task that benefits and improves
the local communities provides the necessary opportunity to the convict to lessen the harm
caused by the crime previously. It also helps the convict re-associate himself or herself in a
systematic way, thus it helps to reduce the rate if reoffending. Another order known as the
Probation Order provide the opportunity for CJSW to focus on the behaviour and the impact
it causes on other (Scottish Government 2010). Under Probation Order, CJSW will try to

AN ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
innovate ways in which it can help the individual to address the underlying cause for
conviction. The minimum length of probation period is six month and maximum is three
years. Other conditions may also be attached to the Probation Order like that of EM
(Electronic Monitoring), emplacing a place of residence, or imposing a curfew so on and so
forth (Graham et al. 2017). The Management of Offenders Act (2005) has forwarded many
reforms that were designed to transform the Scottish Court of Law. This bill has four parts in
it: the first three parts contain the substantive provisions whereas the forth part contains
matters related to ancillary and final provisions. Part one of this act endorses on the use of
Electronic Monitoring (EM). The expansion of Electronic Monitoring allows supervision by
the processes of inclusion and exclusion. Being in Probation Order helps the convict to gain
self-reliance, and confidence, thus reducing the chance of reoffending. Sometimes when the
offender fails to pay the fine needed to undertake any designated activities, Supervised
Attendance Order (SOA) is imposed. This program involves activities related to educational
nature, activities related to constructive use of time, and activities that involve unpaid work in
the community. Under this program the offender is unable to pay the fine will also get the
chance to reallocate them with the mainstream society. Other orders like Drug Treatment and
Testing Order (DTTO) or Restriction of Liberty Orders (RLO) also provides the necessary
opportunities for bring the offender to the mainstream culture. These orders not only provide
the shelter for the offender but also tries to repair their subjective domain by enhancing their
self-confidence and increasing their self-awareness. These orders perform under the broader
stature of CJSW and they work in a systematic and organised manner to reduce the number of
reoffending rate. The offenders are not only humanised in these shelters but regular review of
their progress is reported to the court. Sometime the rate of the referral are high for example
during 2007-08, there were 1238 cases of referrals, which resulted in 956 orders (Scotland
2011).Other service provided under CJSW includes ThroughcareVoluntary Assistance,