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Correctional Services. Chapter 14. The Social Problems of Delinquency and Crime. Economically it is estimated that delinquency and crime cost the people of the United States today more than $300 million annually. In 2000 the prison population grew to 1.9 million inmates.
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Correctional Services Chapter 14
The Social Problems of Delinquency and Crime • Economically it is estimated that delinquency and crime cost the people of the United States today more than $300 million annually. • In 2000 the prison population grew to 1.9 million inmates. • According to the 1999 U.S. crime clock, a murder is committed in our country every 34 minutes.
Social Work and Corrections • The cause of criminal behavior is usually a combination of several factors including: • Serious feelings of inferiority and inadequacy • Inability to socialize • Lack of status • Negative feelings toward relatives • Sibling rivalries • Family disorganization * The number of persons in jails and prisons is on the increase because of stiffer sentences being given.
Social Work and Corrections • The main goal of social workers in treating criminals and delinquents is rehabilitation. • The penitentiary system of punishment was developed through experimentation in the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia towards the end of the 18th century. • Correctional authorities maintain that the most important factor in law enforcement is the certainty of punishment. • Corrections is the process of helping violators to be rehabilitated.
Social Work Practice in Corrections • Interviews with inmates in prisons with social workers usually last about one hour. • Social workers, in working with delinquents, need to accept them as they are. • In regard to feelings, social workers should allow delinquents to ventilate them.
Social Services • In working with the police the social worker should help understand what is best for rehabilitation. • Social workers attached to the courts often perform the task of making pre-sentence investigations for the judge. • Social workers can help courts to be effective because of their knowledge of human behavior and skills in treating delinquent children and youth. • Social work, philosophically, favors for delinquents to make less use of institutions.
Social Services • In recent years the number of penal institutions for youth has been decreasing. • The Youth Services System operates to keep youth out of the criminal system. • A halfway house may be effective in returning delinquents to society by providing understanding, acceptance, and encouragement.
Social Services • The social worker recognizes, ordinarily, the family as particularly important in helping with rehabilitation. • Social workers do some of their best work in probation when they listen sensitively. • One of the best approaches in reducing antisocial behavior is more use of community organization.
Social Services • At the National Symposium on Addressing Violent Crime Through Community Involvement sponsored by the FBI in 1991, the following significant statement was made: “Using combined police and social agencies resources can go a long way in addressing crime.” • Social workers need to keep abreast of the influences of violence and sex on TV and in the movies so they can help reduce delinquency and crime.