Global forensic social work education: A cross-national comparison of education models in ten countries

Forensic social work is often described as the intersection between social work and the legal and criminal justice systems. It is a sociolegal practice which combines social work ethics, knowledge of the law, evidence-based practice, transdisciplinary knowledge and multidisciplinary collaboration. But forensic social work education and training is heterogeneous in terms of duration, content, and locality. Unlike qualifying social work education, specialist social work education is relatively unregulated, and often depends on the individual countries’ credentialing and licencing processes. This paper aims to provide an overview and compare the approaches of ten different countries to forensic social work education. This review uses countries from the World Prison Brief Ten-Country Prisons Project: the United States, Brazil, England, Netherlands, Hungary, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, India, and Australia. It aims to understand education models across diverse contexts and encourage further reflection on forensic social work pedagogy. Findings revealed that there is little consensus on what constitutes competence and quality in forensic social work education. Moreover, current modelling is drawn from Eurocentric epistemologies and has a duty to incorporate and celebrate First Nations, non-western and culturally inclusive paradigms. This paper aims to contribute through its consideration of how education experiences are nationally subjective. By discussing and contrasting different education models, practitioners will be encouraged to think critically about their knowledge bases, professional experiences, and future educational interests. It aims to encourage inclusivity and diversify practice by acknowledging and promoting cultural forms of knowledge in the forensic arena.