Disability studies, social work and criminal justice: conceptualising a dis/ableist criminology

Contemporary practices in Social Work and Criminology reflect their origins in the concerns, fears, and prejudices of the 19th-century middle and upper classes, and particularly, their focus on the growing ‘problem’ of the poor (Macdonald and Deacon, 2019). Although the roots of Social Work are found in 19th-century philanthropy, charitable organisations of the time allied themselves to medicine and emerging scientific ideas (Welshman, 1996). The growth of the eugenics movement across Europe and America in response to ideas of social Darwinism and Victorian notions of the deserving and undeserving poor led to a desire to contain, control, and limit the proliferation of and impact of ‘undesirables’ (Wise, 2024). Discourse linked poverty and crime to flaws of character and intellect (Oak, 2009), which the eugenics movement had popularised as being heritable in nature. The establishment of the welfare systems required to solve the social problems caused by industrialisation and urbanisation passed responsibility for the management and care of the sick and disabled from charities and families to the state (Galis, 2020). From the outset responses to the ‘problem of the poor’ centred around a dual approach of containing the incurable, and rehabilitating those who could be returned to some social (i.e., economic) ‘use.’ Social work and criminal justice practices have significantly evolved since the 19th Century; however, the impact of poverty and marginalisation remains significant for people who encounter social work or criminal justice agencies (Oak, 2009; Macdonald and Peacock, 2024).

Until the 1960’s provision of social care was primarily provided within institutional settings (Barnes, 2020). Later shifts in social work practices increased social visibility of disability populations; in the 1980s deinstitutionalisation saw the support of Disabled People moved from institutions to the community. Cummins (2010) suggests that the result was that ‘individuals are physically living in the community but are denied the opportunity to be active citizens’ (pp. 19), and in relation to encounters with justice that ‘one of the effects … has been to increase the contact between those with mental health problems and the police and prison systems’ (pp. 19). More recently cuts to welfare, social services, and health provision have had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in our society. Disabled People and their families, report that ‘battles with social services and health care providers to gain adequate and appropriate support provision’ are more burdensome in their lives than their impairments (McLaughlin, 2020, pp. 481). Peacock and Cosgrove (2018) argue that in the provision of scarce resources, a hierarchy of vulnerability exists whereby problematised individuals are less likely to be prioritised than other vulnerable people. As both disabled and criminal identities are problematised and othered, social workers face the challenge of ensuring equality and inclusion, against a lack of resources and a social and cultural history of disability perceived through a lens of pathology and deficit.

This chapter examines historical and contemporary biomedical, social, and cultural approaches to conceptualising the experiences of Disabled People who encounter social work and criminal justice agencies. We explore the implications of these perspectives on practice, highlighting the need for a nuanced understanding that transcends medicalisation and centralises the lives, views, and experiences of Disabled People. The chapter aims to equip practitioners with the theoretical knowledge to advocate for inclusive and empowering approaches, challenging the biomedical deficit models that have long dominated social work and criminal justice. This theoretical conceptualisation is crucial for developing a multidisciplinary approach that effectively addresses the needs of disabled individuals who encounter the criminal justice system.