Social Workers’ Role in Combating Slavery-to-Prison Pipeline
by Avital Wulz, MA, Demetrius Keller, MSW, and Llewellyn Cornelius, PhD, LCSW
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” (13th Amendment, 1865)
As indicated in the text above, the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, praised for the abolishment of slavery, leaves a gaping hole open for enslaving people punished for a crime. Some believe this amendment formalized and legalized slavery once again, because people of color, especially African Americans, are arrested and convicted at extraordinarily high rates and given harsher and longer sentences than White people in America. This translates into a new form of slavery — losing basic human rights because they are in prison.
Life in prison is tough. Incarcerated individuals are separated from family, isolated from the outside, and live in harsh conditions.
As social workers, our code of ethics drives us to advocate for those who are marginalized and pushed out of the purview of society. We reach out to those whose minds feel as if they are shackled, but too often forget about those who are physically handcuffed.
While we may not see their faces on the train or talk to them on the streets, persons in these settings can be any of us — fathers, mothers, partners, friends, and students. They are human beings with passions, humor, wisdom, intellect, fear, and creativity.
Social work must be at the forefront of this ongoing struggle for freedom. Our voices are powerful and privileged, for we are free.
What can we do? First, we must use person first language. The way we speak about people matters. Using terms like “inmate,” “felon,” or “convict” reinforces the labels and dehumanization incarcerated people experience daily. Instead of these terms, we should use terms like “incarcerated person” or “justice-involved people.”
Second, we should raise our voices to advocate for policies for justice-involved people.
In particular, it is imperative that we advocate for laws supporting people who reenter society. Laws not allowing formerly incarcerated people to vote or apply for housing, or those where employers can discriminate against people with a felony conviction all oppress formerly incarcerated people. As social workers, we must vote against legislation limiting freedoms for any person and vote for laws supporting a more just and democratic country.
Finally, we must critically evaluate our own positions in society and whether we are remaining complicit in the oppression of those who are physically and emotionally imprisoned. We need to challenge ourselves to think about our biases, question whether we think differently of those who were once imprisoned, and recognize how the plight of those in prison and jails impacts each of us, individually. While many social workers agree with these sentiments, very few venture inside of the prison and jail walls. Incarceration is meant to separate and isolate. Therefore, it is imperative for social workers to step outside of our comfortable offices and go to where our clients are, for they cannot come to us.
Avital Wulz, MA, is a second-year Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health student at the University of Georgia. Her social work interest involves taking interdisciplinary, innovative, and trauma-informed approaches to addressing systemic social and health problems, such as mass incarceration and human rights issues.
Demetrius Keller, MSW's research and interests are geared toward building a community, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, and uplifting systematic oppression. During his undergraduate career, at Bowie State University, Demetrius worked with organizations catered toward the cultivation of youth. He worked with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated at Cheltenham Youth Detention Center. Also, he was program director for The Maryland Center, a nonprofit delivering capstone programs in STEM for students. Demetrius is dedicated to the cause with one mission to change the world.
Llewellyn J. Cornelius, PhD, LCSW's international scholarship focuses on developing community-responsive, culturally appropriate educational, attitudinal, and behavioral change interventions, as well as examining the barriers to the adoption of successful interventions by individuals, practitioners, and communities. Dr. Cornelius has been recognized as the fifth most cited African American scholar in social work and was 2019 Council on Social Work Education Carl Scott Social and Economic Justice lecturer.