Abstract
The social work profession has recently begun to explore the meaning of anti-racist practices and education. In 2022, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) unfolded a policy that requires educators to equip social students with the skills and knowledge to implement anti-racist practices. However, there is no unanimous agreement on what anti-racist practice entails in the profession. To be anti-racist, historical systems of oppression must be contended with. Studies reveal that systemic oppression has long influenced the social work professional and educational practices, due to its silence towards the carceral systems. An abolition feminist approach could help social work truly adopt anti-racist practices and uphold the dignity and worth of every individual. This Banded Dissertation addresses the profession's historical silence on the harm caused by carceral systems it aligns with, the lack of awareness about the carceral logic in our education and practice, and a call for a Black, trans-inclusive, abolition feminist approach with three scholarly products: a conceptual framework for abolition social work with a clear path toward liberative practice and education, a historical analysis of the impact of the juvenile carceral system on Black youth, and its implications for the social work profession, and a new Master of Social Work course, "Systems of Oppression." This Banded Dissertation was guided by the reasoning that creating a healed world beyond the fear-based carceral logic of isolation and shame that thrives on our division and fearful of one another has become crucial.