Bringing abolitionist politics and principles to social work practice 

The NAASW is working to bring abolitionist politics and principles to social work practice. Since 2020 the term abolitionist social work has been used to describe social work and social workers engaging in abolitionist approaches to their work. The NAASW has used this term at various moments including in our chapter in the book Abolition & Social Work. While we see value in developing a shared term that is rooted in the lineages of prison and police abolition, we are also cautious about the ways in which a term like this will inevitably fall short of its politics given the carceral nature of the social work profession. As a result we are less focused on advancing this term and instead invested in supporting the many of us in social work trying to engage abolitionist politics and principles in our day jobs, and in our organizing and community support work outside of the profession.