Social Work Students\u27 Views and Attitudes Towards Working with Previously Incarcerated Individuals

Due to the lack of literature on social worker involvement with the rehabilitation of previously incarcerated individuals, this study was designed to explore social work student’s views and attitudes towards working with this population in the future. This study used a web-based quantitative survey design containing one open-ended question to survey 77 CSUSB social work students. Findings reveal that most social work students recognize previously incarcerated individuals as a vulnerable and marginalized population that is deserving of services and expect to work with this population in the future. Additionally, this study identified that having children may impact social work student’s views and attitudes towards working with previously incarcerated individuals. Common themes that emerged were dignity and worth of persons, intersectionality of this population with social work, and concerns regarding skills, training, and experience which reflected social work students’ adherence to professional social work values and ethics as set forth by the NASW. This study highlights the need of social work students to be provided with the tools necessary in making them feel equipped to work with the rehabilitation of previously incarcerated individuals. Future research identifying barriers that prevent social worker involvement with this population can generate information that can be used to develop trainings to provide further education and knowledge to promote social work student’s competency with this population