Justice social work in Scotland: research, education and practice in a devolved jurisdiction

This chapter discusses Scotland, a devolved nation of the UK with separate law and criminal justice and significant policy autonomy. The system of social work set up by the 1968 Social Work (Scotland) Act absorbed probation, making ‘Justice social work’ (JSW) our equivalent of a probation service. Although often seen as emblematic of a ‘welfarist’ criminal justice, the incorporation of social work into the machinery of criminal justice is inherently problematic; the Act also created a tension between specialist justice and ‘generic’ social work which runs through JSW’s history – organisationally, politically and educationally. After sketching the system and its recent history, we discuss contemporary JSW education, training and registration. Finally, we consider some recent developments: the rise of the desistance paradigm, efforts to embed restorative justice, and the growth of ‘trauma-informed’ approaches.