My workplace is a prison. My client is the prisoner. Who am I?
There are many kinds of social workers, but the kind that works in prisons is often asked, “Why would anyone work for prisoners?” “Is my son doing okay? Ask him to come meet me next week.” “Madam, there is no vacancy in the shelter home, especially for a mentally disabled woman. Now what to do?”
Prisons are taken for granted within ‘civilised’ societies; we often do not think of the what and why of the institution. Often, we find ourselves at one of three points on a continuum: being oblivious and uninterested, feeling secure in knowing that there is a prison, or being concerned about the people who reach prison.
By a feminist approach, I specifically mean the ethics of care articulated by the philosopher Virginia Held, which understands that people are intrinsically interrelated, as opposed to the model of the independent, self-sufficient individual of liberal theory.
