What justice social work is
Key responsibilities of justice social work
Justice social work focuses on building trust and helping people stay out of trouble in the future, while making sure they take responsibility for what they did.
Some its key responsibilities include:
- early intervention and prevention
- assessment and case management
- supervision of court orders
- rehabilitation and support
- reparation and payback to community.
What justice social work services we provide
Our services include:
- providing assessments and reports on offenders to courts to assist decisions on sentencing
- providing information and supervision to people on bail as an alternative to being held in custodial remand
- a social work service to people who are are offered a diversion (an alternative) to prosecution
- supervision of people who are given a community payback order by the courts
- provision of unpaid community work placements for people as ordered by the courts
- supervision of people who have been given Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO)
- supervision and support for people after their release from prison to help them adapt and prevent reoffending (called throughcare services)
- services for women
- help for young people in the justice system
- supporting victims of crime and their families
- public protection - working with partners in Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on risk assessment, planning, management, and interventions on both an individual and group basis.
Who the services are for
Justice social work services are for mostly for people in the criminal justice system, including those who have offended, are at risk of re-offending, and their victims.
People are normally referred to our justice social work service as a result of court orders, report requests, or for supervision following release from prison.
How to contact the service
You can contact the service to make a suggestion or complaint by:
More information
Justice Social Work services are delivered within a framework of statutory requirements, national and local policies, standards, and guidance.
You can find out more with:
Justice social work provides services to people in the criminal justice system.
It plays a vital role in Scotland’s criminal justice system.
It supports and works with people who have offended from the point of arrest, through prosecution and sentencing, and during their reintegration into the community.
Justice social work services aim to:
- address the causes of a person’s offending behaviour
- hold people who have offended accountable for their actions and support them to reduce the risk of re-offending
- work with and support people who have been involved in offending behaviour to rehabilitate and re-settle into the community
- consider victims of crime in the work we do
- work with partners to enhance public protection and community safety.
We do this by :
- making sure people who have offended are appropriately assessed, supported and managed within the community where it is safe to do so
- providing a justice service that focuses on reducing future offending and supporting people to constructively pay back for their actions, and build better lives for themselves and the communities they live in
- working in partnership with various public and third sector organisations.
The Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 led to justice social work services becoming part of a wider Community Justice Partnership. Find out more about community justice.