Social work has long been working directly with the criminal and civil courts of the justice system. The work of Latin American practitioners in the legal system, however, is little known at global and local levels. This book is the first to go beyond Western-centric appraisals and presents a truly Latin American portrait of social work in the justice system. The long-term interaction of social work practitioners with the judicial system enabled them to develop an expertise to dialogue with other disciplines such as law and psychology. This knowledge is very important to identify and share with other professionals to develop specialized programs for education and training. In this sense, positive and negative experiences of social work in the justice system allow one to improve its practice. It is crucial to identify local experiences and the great dilemmas that the profession faces on this subject. The volume's chapters deal with these dynamics in Latin American countries including: Forensic Social Work: The construction of possible ways of the criminal intervention Socio-Legal Social Work in the Field of Criminal Defense Family and Community Life: Contributions of Social Work to the Debate in Family Courts Support to Victims in High-conflict Scenarios: An approach from the socio-legal, the pedagogical, and the care perspectives The Assessment of Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse Allegations from a Social Work Perspective Latin American Social Work in the Justice System is essential reading for students, researchers, academicians, policymakers, and practitioners who are interested in international social work with a special focus on Latin American countries and legal culture. Students and scholars in law, development studies, and public policy as well as psychologists working with and interested in the judicial system would also find this book a useful resource.

This updated and expanded new edition resumes the theme of the first edition, and the findings reveal that race, ethnicity, gender, class, and several other variables continue to play a significant and consequential role in the legal decision-making process. The book is structured into three sections, each of which corresponds to a different body of work on Latinos. Section One explores the historical dynamics and influence of ethnicity in law enforcement, and focuses on how ethnicity impacts policing field practices, such as traffic stops, use of force, and the subsequent actions that police departments have employed to alleviate these problems. A detailed examination of critical issues facing Latino defendants seeks to better understand the law enforcement process. The history of immigration laws as it pertains to Mexicans and Latinos explains how Mexicans have been excluded from the United States through anti-immigrant legislation. Latino officers must cope with structural and political issues, the community, and media, as these practices and experiences within the American police system are explored. Section Two focuses on the repressive practices against Mexicans that resulted in executions, vigilantism, and mass expulsions. The topic of Latinos and the Fourth Amendment reveals that the constitutional right of people to be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures has been eviscerated for Latinos, and particularly for Mexicans. Possible remedies to existing shortcomings of the court system when processing indigent defendants are presented. Section Three studies the issue of Hispanics and the penal system. The ethnic realities of life behind bars, probation and parole, the legacy of capital punishment, and life after prison are discussed. Section Four addresses the globalization of Latinos, social control, and the future of Latinos in the U.S. Criminal justice system. Lastly, the race and ethnic experience through the lens of science, law, and the American imagination, are explored, concluding with policy recommendations for social and criminal justice reform, and ultimately humanizing differences. Written for professionals and students of law enforcement, this book will promote the understanding of the historical legacy of brutality, manipulation, oppression, marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, power and control, and white America's continued fear about racial and ethnic minorities.

Latinos are now the largest ethnic minority population in the United States and still they encounter a great deal of misunderstanding, prejudice, and discrimination. Utilizing a strengths-based perspective, Social Work Practice with Latinos addresses the unique needs of this diverse population. Written by practitioners and scholars from many disciplines, this book discusses social issues of consequence to Latinos and specific strengths and risk factors of the Latino community. They then offer methods that utilize these strengths to ensure a culturally-competent approach to practice with Latino populations. Each chapter is accompanied by key questions for personal and group reflection to facilitate discussion and understanding of these vital themes. The editors have nearly three decades of combined experience working with Latino populations inside and outside the United States. Drawing on this experience, they integrate these varied perspectives to prepare students and practitioners for practice with this richly diverse community.

Winner of the 2019 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) The best-selling Introduction to Social Work takes students to the root of the social work profession by covering its history, practice settings, and career paths within a unique advocacy framework. This advocacy practice and policy model comprised of four components—economic and social justice, a supportive environment, human needs and rights, and political access—provides an effective lens for viewing today’s social issues. Throughout the book, an emphasis on advocacy underscores the transformative opportunities and contributions of social work on not just the clinical/client level, but also at organizational, community, national, and international levels. The Second Edition closely aligns with the latest Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and references the 2018 Code of Ethics from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Through the authors’ inclusion of reflective practice, students will be encouraged to engage in critical thought and contemplate a career in social work. Free Poster: What Can You Do with a Degree in Social Work?

This unique compilation of essays and entries provides critical insights into the Latino/a experience with the U.S. criminal justice system. Concerns about immigration's relationship to crime make accurate information and critical analysis of the utmost importance. Latinos and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia promotes understanding of Latinas and Latinos and the U.S. criminal justice system, at the same time dispelling popular misconceptions about this population and criminal activity in the United States. Unlike a traditional encyclopedia comprised solely of A–Z entries, this work consists of two parts. Part I offers detailed essays on particularly important topics. Part II provides brief, A–Z entries. Topics are crossreferenced to enable easy research. Among the wide range of topics covered are policing and police misconduct, incarceration, the war on drugs, gangs, border crime, and racial profiling. Historically important issues and events relative to the Latino experience of criminal justice in the United States are also included, as are key legal cases.

Social Work and Social Justice transcends discussions of abstract social justice concepts and goals by focusing on how these concepts can be used as guides for socially just practice at the interpersonal, organizational, community, and societal levels. In addition to emphasizing the importance of social justice work through compelling examples, case studies, and exercises, this book vividly illustrates its complexity and discusses how social workers can negotiate the practical and ethical challenges involved. Unlike many books on the subject, the text integrates diverse and often conflicting approaches to social justice to promote critical thinking and underscore the value of incorporating various perspectives into one's practice. Other distinguishing features include: its emphasis on the complementary nature of socially just goals and processes; its use of well-developed case examples, often drawn from the authors' experience; and the authors' reflection on the implications of these examples from both "micro" and "macro" perspectives, along with a discussion of how practitioners with diverse understandings of social justice might interpret the case. Social Work and Social Justice is based on the authors' extensive teaching and practice experience in a wide variety of fields, both in the U.S. and internationally, and on their research on such varied topics as welfare reform, mental health, social work practice theory, social work values and ethics, and the history and philosophy of social welfare and social work. It is undeniably a must-have resource for students and faculty in undergraduate and graduate social work programs, as well as practitioners in social work and the human services.

This book provides a nuanced picture of how diverse legal debates on the pursuit of economic development and modernization have played out in Latin America since independence. The opposing concepts of modernization theory and Dependency Theory can be seen to be playing out within the field of legal transformation, as some legal analysts define law as a closed, formal, rational system, and others see law as inseparable from economic, social and political change. Legal experiments have followed these trends, in some cases using legal instruments to guarantee classical, civil and political rights, and in others demanding radical transformation of existing legal structures. This book traces these debates across the key topics of: economic development and foreign investment; property; resource and power distribution in terms of gender and social policy. Drawing on a wide range of literature, the book adds complexity and color to our understanding of these themes in Latin America. This insightful exploration of comparative law within Latin America provides the tools needed to understand legal transformation in the region, and as such will be of interest to researchers within law, political sociology, development and Latin American studies.