Promoting Smart Decarceration: Social Work's Call to Social Innovation

Evidence indicates that mass incarceration has reached a tipping point, and that we are entering an era of decarceration. The grand challenge of this new era will be to move away from incarceration-based thinking and toward an array of proactive policy, practice, and research innovations that will promote “smart decarceration.” Smart decarceration will not only substantially reduce the incarcerated population, but also ameliorate social disparities and maximize public safety and well-being.     

Drawing on a combined 60 years of criminal justice practice and research experience, we offer guiding concepts to advance social work’s role in shaping the decarceration era into one that is effective, sustainable, and socially just. Concepts include: 1- Changing the narrative on incarceration and those experiencing incarceration; 2- Criminal justice system-wide innovations: 3- Trans-disciplinary policy and practice interventions; and 4- Grounding in multiple sources of evidence-driven strategies. Building on these concepts, we suggest key questions, approaches, and challenges to facilitate the expansion and influence of social work innovation and research on smart decarceration. We will conclude with a town hall-based discussion with all session attendees to build connections to existing research projects and to explore next steps in joining a concentrated effort in smart decarceration social work.