Care in custody: Perceptions and Practices of Social Work in Prisons
Monday, 7th September 2026, online workshop
Convenors: Marina Richter, Julia Emprechtinger and Martin Böhnel, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, HES-SO Valais-Wallis
Social workers in prisons navigate a range of tensions and are often positioned between competing logics of rehabilitation and punishment or risk management. Their work lies at the intersection of providing support and imposing constraints, as well as between adherence to professional ethical principles and the logic of the criminal justice system.
To compare our findings from Switzerland with international research and conceptual approaches to prison social work, we are organizing an online workshop to facilitate exchange and discussion among scholars in the field across different continents and legal systems. The workshop aims to share and discuss how social workers are embedded within various criminal justice systems and to examine their tasks and responsibilities. In this context, conceptual notions such as rehabilitation and risk orientation, as well as differing perspectives, particularly those of professionals and detained people, offer valuable insights for engaging with this topic.
We invite contributions on social work in prisons across diverse national and institutional contexts in both the Global North and the Global South, structured around three thematic strands. First, contributions may focus on various tensions, professional concepts, and mandates shaping prison social work. Second, we welcome analyses of contextual factors, organizational structures, and professional training across countries and continents. Third, we encourage contributions that foreground the perspectives of detained people and their lived experiences with social work professionals.
Deadline for abstracts: 30th of April 2026.