American Bar Association Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty Cases: Implications for Social Work

When a client faces a penalty of death, defense attorneys may call on social workers in many capacities: mitigation specialist, expert witness, consulting specialist, direct witness, or defense-initiated victim outreach worker. The American Bar Association set forth standards for capital defense att...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social work (New York) 2012-04, Vol.57 (2), p.155-164
Main Author: Andrews, Arlene Bowers
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attorneys
Behavior Patterns
Biographies
Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment - legislation & jurisprudence
Caseworker Approach
Caseworkers
Communication Skills
Competence
Court Litigation
Criminal defense attorneys
Criminal investigation
Criminal justice
Criminal sentencing
Criminals
Data Interpretation
Death
Defence counsel
Defendants
Ethics
Evidence
Expert Testimony
Expert witnesses
Federal Government
Guidelines
Guidelines as Topic
Health Personnel
Humans
Interdisciplinary Approach
Interviews
Knowledge
Knowledge Level
Law Enforcement
Laws
Lawyers
Legal practice
Legal Problems
Mental Disorders
Mental health
Mental Health Workers
Mitigation
Oral Language
Psychological Patterns
Public Policy
Punishment
Records (Forms)
Research Subjects
Sentences
Social History
Social Work
Social workers
Specialists
Teams
United States
Victims
Witnesses
Written Language
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Summary:When a client faces a penalty of death, defense attorneys may call on social workers in many capacities: mitigation specialist, expert witness, consulting specialist, direct witness, or defense-initiated victim outreach worker. The American Bar Association set forth standards for capital defense attorneys, which led an interdisciplinary team to produce the "Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty Cases" to promote the exceptional competence and diligence required when the consequence is life or death. This article summarizes the "Supplementary Guidelines," with implications for social work practice—that is, professional responsibility, competence, interviewing skill, knowledge of behavioral and mental impairment, records review, life history compilation, data interpretation, witness support, law-related knowledge, and testimony. The social work, which is scrutinized in a court of law, requires cultural competence, diverse oral and written communication skills, diligence, and the highest ethical standards.
ISSN:0037-8046
1545-6846
DOI:10.1093/sw/sws033