‘Compassionate’ Control: Social Work and the Rise of Carceral Feminism in Progressive Era Police Reform

Bethany Jo Murray (), Jennifer Erwin, Sandra Leotti, Elizabeth Allen, Matthew Bakko, Leah A. Jacobs, C. Riley Hostetter, Stephen Monroe Tomczak and Alexandra Fixler
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Bethany Jo Murray: Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Jennifer Erwin: Department of Social Work, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026, USA
Sandra Leotti: Division of Social Work, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Elizabeth Allen: Department of Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences, University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Matthew Bakko: School of Social Work, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
Leah A. Jacobs: School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA
C. Riley Hostetter: Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA
Stephen Monroe Tomczak: Department of Social Work, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
Alexandra Fixler: School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: The contemporary Defund the Police movement has renewed interest in social work’s role in public safety, leading some to call for increased police–social work collaborations. However, claims regarding the potential virtues and pitfalls of social work–police collaborations are largely ahistorical. To contextualize current debates, a systematic investigation into the evolution of social work and its relationship with law enforcement is necessary, particularly the impact that gender norms have had on this relationship. Drawing from the National Conference on Charities and Corrections proceedings, we examined how gendered underpinnings have shaped social work’s relationship to law enforcement and the understanding of social work’s role in public safety. During the Progressive Era, social workers acted as an intervention to reform police by infusing ‘rehabilitative’, ‘protective’, ‘preventative’, and ‘quarantining’ approaches in law enforcement. What emerges from the archives is a chronicle detailing how using social work as a gendered intervention for police reform during the Progressive Era fell short of addressing the root causes of carceral issues, drawing parallels between the Progressive Era reforms and today’s contemporary reforms.

Keywords: Progressive Era; carceral feminism; policewomen; police reform; gender consciousness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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