Social Work, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty

Social workers have their hands in a lot of big sociopolitical issues. When it comes to the death penalty, their involvement is especially crucial. Social workers might support those receiving the sentence, engage with the families of those sentenced, participate in mitigation work, examine the critical discourse (psychiatric, psychological, and legal) leading up to and after the sentence, contribute to research surrounding mental health as it relates to the criminal justice system, or even use social advocacy and policy practice to examine the death penalty.

In Social Work, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty, professionals with backgrounds spanning, law, forensics, academia, and social work combine and explain their experiences surrounding this prominent social justice issue. The book is broken into three sections: Criminal Justice Considerations, Sociopolitical Considerations, and Applied Social Work Considerations. Across each section, chapters provide explicit implications for the social work professional in a criminal justice setting. The resulting volume equips beginning professionals and students with a holistic overview of the intersection of criminal justice and social justice.

Lauren A. Ricciardelli, PhD, LMSW, is Assistant Professor of Social Work at Troy University and a licensed social worker in the state of Georgia.

Foreword, Ed Risler
Author Biographies
Introduction: The Important Role of Social Work

I. Criminal Justice Considerations
Chapter 1. Going, Going, Gone: The Death of Capital Punishment in the 21st Century, Marc Bookman
Chapter 2. Methodological and Procedural Considerations, John R. Barner
Chapter 3. Jury Considerations in Capital Cases, John R. Barner
Chapter 4. The History of Mitigation in Death Penalty Cases, Russell Stetler
Chapter 5. Social Workers in Capital Defense Practice: Demystifying Human Frailty / Empowering Conscience, Brian Kammer

II. Sociopolitical Considerations
Chapter 6. On Capital Punishment, Richard Dien Winfield
Chapter 7. Structuralism, Neoliberalism, and the U.S. Criminal Justice, Larry Nackerud
Chapter 8. The Criminalization of Poverty, Christopher R. Larrison
Chapter 9. Mass Incarceration: The Politics of Race, Gender, and U.S. Prison, Michael Robinson, Sharon E. Moore, & A. Christson Adedoyin
Chapter 10. A Public Health Case for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, Elizabeth Beck, Cynthia Adcock, & Allison Bantimba
Chapter 11. Affecting Legislative Change from the Judicial Perspective, Timothy R. Saviello

III. Social Work Considerations
Chapter 12. Linking the Social Services and Criminal Justice Systems, Leon Ginsberg
Chapter 13. Serious Mental Illness, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty, Anna Scheyett & Katherine J. Crawford
Chapter 14. Intellectual Disability, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty, Cliff Sloan & Lauryn Fraas
Chapter 15. Immigration, Foreign Nationals, and the U.S. Death Penalty, Larry Nackerud & John Barner
Chapter 16. The Death Penalty from the Family Perspective, Jennifer Schweizer & Elizabeth Beck
Chapter 17. The Relevance of Trauma and Secondary Trauma to Death Penalty Cases, Robyn Painter
Chapter 18. Advocacy, Activism, & Policy Practice: Social Workers as Advocates for Criminal Legal System Reforms,
Marissa McCall Dodson

Epilogue: Making a Seat at the Table
Glossary
Appendix: Recommended Works and Resources