Feb 27, 2022 By: yunews
In 2021, the Wurzweiler School of Social Work received funding to research the ways criminal justice social workers (CJSW) talk with their clients/communities about voting. CJSW interact with those engaged with and returning from the criminal justice system through roles in correctional facilities, jails, parole and probation agencies, court systems, drug courts, mental health courts, community-based nonprofit and faith-based agencies, and primary health/behavioral health care. This study asks how criminal justice social workers see the importance of clients voting, understand their state’s rules about felony disenfranchisement, and communicate about voting with affected individuals and communities.
As we close out Black History Month, it is especially important to note that because of systematic racism within the criminal justice system, those who are unable to vote because of felony convictions or other criminal justice involvement are overwhelmingly people of color.
In particular, many of the laws that remove voting rights based on criminal conviction have been historically intended to target African American voters. More information on these systemic issues can be found here.
This mixed-methods study staffed by nine Wurzweiler Ph.D. students is conducting original research this year. The research results will be used to develop educational materials to improve the ways social workers serve people with criminal justice involvement. We expect these results to be a key resource in advocacy for policy change and in helping social workers better serve those who are disenfranchised because of their criminal justice involvement. For more information, reach out to Dr. Lane at shannon.lane@yu.edu