Response of Graduate Social Work Programs to the Mass Incarceration Crisis

Background and Purpose: The United States has the world’s largest incarcerated population and the highest rate of incarceration. This phenomenon of mass incarceration disproportionately impacts African Americans, who have higher rates of incarceration and felony disenfranchisement than whites across all states. A criminal conviction has immense consequences that extend beyond incarceration. Additionally, nearly one in four American has a criminal record. Social workers need to be well prepared to challenge mass incarceration and serve clients, families, and communities impacted by this crisis. This document reports the cumulative findings of a study that aimed to determine if Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited graduate social work programs offered courses on mass incarceration. The preliminary phase of the study involved 110 programs in ten states listed on the CSWE website, and identified only 6 programs that mentioned mass incarceration or similar terms and the need for systemic change in course titles or descriptions.

Methods: All 167 accredited masters programs in the remaining states and jurisdictions listed on the CSWE website were included in the study. Similar to the preliminary phase, courses offered in general, certificate, specialized, and dual degree programs were identified by searching program websites or university catalogs. Content analysis of course titles and descriptions was then conducted using various search terms including mass incarceration, criminal justice, disparities, etc., and coded for existence of concept(s) if they explicitly or implicitly stated the need for reform such as addressing systemic racism or a less punitive approach to crime. Rigor was established trough the collaborative development and utilization of search terms, coding criteria, coding sheet, and other study procedures, including independent coding of courses by two study authors, comparing coding sheets, and deliberating about both agreements and disagreements in coding.

Results: The cumulative analysis of 277 CSWE-accredited graduate programs showed that only 49 courses offered by 27 programs in 17 states/jurisdictions met coding criteria. These states were New York (6 programs), California, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (2 programs each), Chicago, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas (1 program each). Programs identified accounted for less than 10% of accredited programs. Most of the 49 courses were electives in MSW or MSW-Juris Doctor (MSW/JD) dual degree programs. However, only 19 courses were social work courses with only 5 courses being core or required courses for all students.

Conclusions and Implications: Similar to the findings of the preliminary phase, the final findings of the study suggest that the social work profession is failing badly in preparing students to understand and address mass incarceration and its consequences. This reinforces prior findings that social work academia is generally indifferent towards racial minority clients, including in addressing important societal issues that disproportionately impact them. While additional research is needed to determine if content on mass incarceration is being infused into course materials, it may also be helpful to examine program leaders and faculty’s awareness of the magnitude of the problem and its impact on practice especially involving racial minority clients.