Offenders

Practice context

Social work has a long-established history of supporting people who are or have been involved with the criminal justice system. Sometimes offending behaviour is the specific focus, but more often our primary purpose is responding to care and support needs, and offending behaviour is an element considered within this. Crime and the criminal justice system are always under close public and political scrutiny. There are multiple perspectives on the causes of criminal behaviour, the extent to which individuals are accountable, and the role that socioeconomic and political factors play. Pinkney et al. (2018) argue that although youth offending is not a new phenomenon, it is increasingly linked to factors such as poverty, domestic abuse, trauma, fear, lack of opportunities, school exclusion, lack ...