Abolitionist Social Work
When I began my MSW program at the Graduate College of Social Work, Alan Dettlaff was dean, and our summer reading assignment was "Torn Apart: How the child welfare system destroys black families and how abolition can build a safer world" by Dorothy Roberts. This book, and many others, continue to shape my understanding of the family policing system, the prison industrial complex, and the effects of capitalism.
This page links to these books, podcasts, and other resources in the hopes that we all learn something and take some action towards liberation.
Torn Apart: How the child welfare system destroys black families and how abolition can build a safer world – Dorothy Roberts
We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice – Mariame Kaba
Are Prisons Obsolete? – Angela Davis
Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Affirming the Call for Social Work to Fully Support Defunding the Police – Alan Dettlaff
Reformist reforms vs. abolitionist steps to end IMPRISONMENT – Critical Resistance