Police Social Work: Social Work Practice in Law Enforcement Agencies

Grounded in contemporary social work practice approaches such as trauma-informed practice, cultural competency and systems theory, this book develops 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 agencies
• The types of social problems addressed and characteristics of police social work collaborations
• Ethical and other practice issues that arise when collaborating with law enforcement agencies and required practice skills to address these issues
• An examination of collaborations formed between law enforcement agencies and social services agencies in which the service providers are not professional social workers
• A model for developing police social work collaborations and investigating collaboration effectiveness
• Expanded 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.