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Advocacy and Ethics in Legal Social Work: Centering Trauma Informed Practice, Justice, and Dignity in Court Involved Systems
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Category: Specialty Practice Sections, Courts, Criminal Justice, Empowerment / Strengths-Based, Ethics, General Law / Legal Issues, Implicit Bias, Juvenile Justice, Law and Ethics, Social Justice, Social Work, Trauma (show less)
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Forensic social work represents the intersection of social work and the law and has its roots in early 20th Century advocacy for those marginalized by society. Today’s view of forensic social work is most relevant through the lens of courtroom and legal social work. This 90-minute webinar provides an introduction to social work in legal settings and the ways social workers engage with individuals, families, and communities across legal and child welfare systems. Framing the topic through an historical overview that traces the origins of forensic social work to early 20th‑Century reform movements, participants will learn how social workers became formal professionals central to victim advocacy, child welfare and parent representation, and criminal mitigation practice. Using trauma‑informed assessment, life‑history investigation, and contextual storytelling based in a Just Practice Framework, social workers humanize clients and challenge harmful assumptions about individuals involved in the criminal legal system.
A key component of the webinar is the integration of NASW’s Social Work Speaks (2025) policy position on the death penalty. Participants will become familiar with NASW’s opposition to capital punishment, grounded in concerns about racial disparities, wrongful convictions, trauma, and the incompatibility of state‑sanctioned execution with core social work values. This policy anchors a broader conversation about advocacy, human rights, and the ethical obligations of social workers in high‑stakes legal contexts where social work ethics underscore the dignity and worth of all individuals.
Finally, the session situates social work within a wider ecosystem of community‑based justice movements, highlighting examples of community‑driven advocacy that - while not formally social work by profession - share values of empowerment, anti‑racism, and participatory defense that inform holistic defense practice today. Together, these threads offer participants a rich understanding of social workers’ past, present, and future roles in advancing justice and dignity across legal settings.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the evolution of forensic social work from early 20th‑Century reform movements to modern roles in legal and child welfare settings.
- Explain core social work functions in legal contexts drawing on social work’s core values and key practices such as trauma‑informed assessment, life‑history investigation, and contextual storytelling that support holistic defense and humanize clients in court‑involved systems.
- Evaluate the ethical implications of social work roles in legal settings including high-stakes legal environments by examining NASW’s 2025 position on the death penalty in relation to social work’s core values and ethical principles.
| Price | Early Registration | Standard |
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| Non-Member | N/A | $40.00 | | Member | N/A | $25.00 | | Specialty Practice Sections | N/A | $0.00 |
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