This descriptive study was designed to elicit the kinds, extensity and intensity of needs of the inmate population of Multnomah County Correctional Institution, a minimum security jail for misdemeanants. A guiding hypothesis asserted that there were unmet needs of prisoners which could be met through social work services both within and outside the institution. Almost the entire population of the institution was interviewed. Open-end and structured responses were recorded on schedules. Five broad areas of need were defined. These were 1) physical needs -- including food, clothing, shelter, and medical care; 2) social needs -- including interpersonal ties, group membership, religious, and recreational needs; 3) psychological needs -- including the individual’s self concept, attitudes towards accepting help, desire for change, and his present level of achievement versus level of aspiration; 4) educational needs -- including academic, vocational , or remedial schooling; and 5) financial needs -- including post-release funds, debts, and employment. Statistical measures tested consistency, whether interviewers projected their own values, and interviewer reliability. Variances showed differences were due mostly to inmate traits and not interviewer bias, except that the weight given to some inmate needs varied more than chance at the .05 level. The 59 men saw themselves as having some 102 categorized needs immediate upon release and 320 long-range needs, nearly all directly related to social work services. Findings suggested additional research in the following areas: 1.To determine the similarity or dissimilarity of inmate needs of misdemeanants elsewhere. 2. To determine to what extent community resources can be made available in responding to the needs of released prisoners. 3. To determine family needs of inmates. Implications of the study favored the use of social workers within the institution itself, evaluation of existing social work services, the establishment of a job-placement program and creation of a down-town center to serve a number of secular needs.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Thesis (MSocWk)--University of South Australia, 2001

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this research is to explore offenders’ experiences and social workers’ perceptions of the Standardised Anger Management Programme as facilitated by social workers at the Department of Correctional Services. The offender population in South Africa is diverse in terms of culture, language, religion, education and socio economic status. The Department of Correctional Services is committed to providing needs-based programmes for offenders to address their offending behaviour in ways that are appropriate for each. The research design was based on a case study. Thirteen offenders from St Albans Correctional Centre who had completed the Standardised Anger Management Programme, together with three social workers at the centre, participated in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme. Evaluations were conducted by means of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the thirteen offenders, and a focus group discussion with the three social workers facilitating the programme. Together, these three methods yielded useful and insightful ideas on the areas where the programme’s challenges lie, and led to the formulation of several general and specific recommendations, which are presented in chapter five of this thesis. The thesis bases its critique of the programme on insights gained from the literature; expanding on all aspects of the ecological approach to the individual. A detailed presentation of the ecological approach is given in chapter three. The various individual, micro-, exo- and macrosystems that make up the totality of influences on a person’s life are reviewed, and are referred to again in chapter four, which presents the finding of the study. The findings and discussion thereof are, of course, presented in the context of the Department of Correctional Service’s legislative and legal framework, which takes its direction from the 2005 White Paper on Corrections. This White Paper firmly set the Department of Correctional Services on a path towards rehabilitative, rather than purely punitive, treatment of offenders. Its publication was followed soon after by the introduction of the Standardised Anger Management Programme which, as the name suggests, was an attempt to standardise all the hitherto piecemeal rehabilitative efforts of various centres around the country. The study found that facilitators and the participants of the Standardised Anger Management Programme had areas of commonality regarding their views on the programme. The findings suggest that while participants in the programme gained anger management skills, much needs to be done to revise and improve the programme, so that it better addresses the needs of the unique offender population of South Africa. Among many recommendations made in chapter five, the researcher recommends that social workers are adequately trained and equipped to present the programme. In addition, the issues of course content and cultural assumptions, offender motivation and centre officials’ attitudes also need to be addressed.

M.A. / In 1994 South Africa changed to a new political dispensation to guarantee a better life for all, including offenders. The new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was adopted in 1996 and it makes provision for conditions of detention that are consistent with humane dignity. Social work as a profession also had to position itself in such a way that it defines its role within the confines of the democratic South Africa, and meet the new challenges of the new era. Possibly the most important characteristic of social work is that it is generic in nature and remains basically the same in whichever situation it is undertaken. Therefore there are no differences when social work is practiced in relation to the family, the child, the aged, the offender, the juvenile delinquent, the patient in the hospital, the mentally handicapped or in any other situation. Nevertheless, it is of the utmost importance that social work recognizes the particular requirements to which the social worker would be expected to respond and to adjust social work practice accordingly. The roles of social workers in correction are blurred and unclear. This study, therefore, is an attempt to define and clarify the role of social work in correctional services in relation to the offender with particular emphasis on rehabilitation. Rehabilitation of criminal offenders offers the criminal justice system a unique avenue of improvement. Despite the failures and abuses of the past, a revitalized concept of rehabilitation represents a creative opening in the repetitive mechanisms of a merely punitive system. There is an increasing demand for clear, explicit assessments, plans and reviews to minimize the risk of errors. Practitioners are required to write down what they are doing in more detail and to provide their principals with statistics to enable them to cost and evaluate the workings of the department. It is clear that if social workers in correctional services are to be accountable, a scientific approach is needed and effective training programmes must be in place to enhance the validity and reliability of the helping process. There has been an ongoing debate with regard to the efficacy of helping professions. There have been suggestions that the best helpers are those who stay abreast of the best in current theory and research and who constantly update their practical work through ongoing action research with their clients. Social workers have, until recently, retained a strong element of autonomy in their direct work with clients. Whereas the traditional punitive reaction enforces conformity to law on the basis of fear or pure calculation, rehabilitation creates in the offender the capacity for social participation and responsibility. / Dr. W. Roestenburg

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-198) Also available in print.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Abilene Christian University, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-110).

D.Litt. et.Phil.