Police Social Work

Grounded in contemporary social work practice approaches such as trauma-informed practice, cultural competency, and systems theory, this book provides a model for developing, implementing, and evaluating police social work and social service collaboration within the context of contemporary policing strategies.

The practice of professional social work in law enforcement agencies is increasingly becoming an important area of practice. Police social work, as it is known, benefits community residents and assists law enforcement agencies with accomplishing community policing and other problem-solving initiatives. Throughout 13 chapters, this book covers:

The practice of professional social work within law enforcement agenciesThe types of social problems addressed and characteristics of police social work collaborationsEthical and other practice issues that arise when collaborating with law enforcement agencies and required practice skills to address these issuesAn examination of collaborations formed between law enforcement agencies and social services agencies in which the service providers are not professional social workersA model for developing police social work collaborations and investigating collaboration effectivenessExpanded roles for police social work practice such as consultation, officer selection, training recruits and police officers, and assisting their families Police Social Work provides a wealth of case studies and other reference material to prepare students for police social work practice, as well as serving as a resource for police officers, recruits, and students majoring in policing.