Social work behind bars in Latin America

Latin America is marked by profound social inequalities, violence and high incarceration rates. Social Work intervenes as a profession of “help” for the imprisoned. Nevertheless, the empirical question about the roles of the discipline within prison settings remains barely explored. We carried out a review of the official websites of prison systems in the region ( n = 18) to characterize and analyze the profession in carceral spaces. Our findings reveal an important de facto presence, accompanied by various tasks. The following review contributes to generate preliminary empirical evidence regarding the roles of the social worker in the penitentiary systems of the region.