Joanne Thorpe

Bio: Joanne Thorpe is an academic researcher from Victim Support. The author has contributed to research in topics: Social work & Cooperative inquiry. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 19 citations.

The sprawling thicket: Knowledge and specialisation in forensic social work

Abstract: This exploratory study uses a post-modern framework to investigate and map aspects of the (re)emerging occupational area of forensic social work, broadly defined as practice, which in any manner may be related to legal issues and litigation, both criminal and civil. The study is the result of each author asking questions about the nature of our professional experience in the field and then testing our thoughts against those of other social workers in the field. Our aim was to initiate discussion about the nature of forensic social work and to question whether our work called upon skills and knowledge that differed from those of social workers in other (specialised) fields. We used a cooperative inquiry method and significant themes and issues were raised with agreement for much of the discussion. The most lively dialogue centred upon the benefit or disadvantage of specialisation, with tensions evident around the perceived elitism some participants attached to the specialist title. The initial investigatio...

The Evolution of Forensic Social Work in the United States: Implications for 21st Century Practice

Abstract: This article maps the evolution of forensic social work in the United States in light of its past history and future possibilities. It begins with English Poor Laws of 1601 and Colonial Era and the establishment of forensic policy in the North American colonies, then focuses on the late 19th and early 20th century creation and establishment of the social work profession and its forensic aspects, and finally to the contemporary expression of forensic social workers to carry out or change those policies. Throughout American history, social justice and in later years, global and universal human rights were at the core of the theory and practice of forensic social work. Social workers understood that government, as author and institutor of policy, can and should be an arena for reform. Our foremothers and forefathers saw that advocating for their “clients” meant advocating for systemic reform, as they used an integrated two-pronged approach to social welfare in order to enhance human and community well being ...

Development and evaluation of a training programme for forensic social workers working with child sexual abuse

Abstract: ....................................................................................................................................................... IV OPSOMMING ................................................................................................................................................... VIII GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 2

Forensic Social Work: A Distinctive Framework for Intervention

Abstract: This article reports on a study that explored the extent to which social workers employed by The Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (known as Forensicare) identified their practice as specialist, with distinct and distinctive skills and knowledge, their role differentiated from other fields of social work and the implications of this for the social work profession. As a group of social workers they provide services to mentally ill offenders in prison, to inpatients in the secure psychiatric hospital and after their release into the community, and provide assessments and psychiatric reports for court. A cooperative enquiry approach, using interview and focus groups, gathered information about how the social workers defined and described forensic social work and how social workers could be prepared for work in this practice domain. The social workers reported that the complex needs and great vulnerability of forensic clients meant they needed not only knowledge of individual functioning but also ...

Forensic Social Work Practice Standards: Definition and Specification

Abstract: Social work practice is coming under increased scrutiny due to increased statutory regulation of practice and promotion of evidence-based practice (EBP). The social work profession has generated minimal, generic practice standards that are not well-suited to modern, specialized practice in social work. Forensic social work is a specialty that is vulnerable to misapplication of generic, minimal practice standards to highly complex clinical situations forensic practitioners face in routine practice. This article defines the various levels of performance expectations (standard of care, practice standards, professional ethics, generally accepted practice, practice guidelines, practice protocols, and best practices) in rank order based on the degree of mandated performance. Issues faced in developing concise and precise performance expectations are explored. The articles concludes with a preliminary generic model of forensic social work practice standards.