Social Work and Judicial Reforms in Chile: Interdisciplinarity and Emerging Perspectives.

Abstract

Purpose: This study analyzes professionalization processes and interdisciplinary collaboration of social work professionals within Chilean family and criminal justice systems following judicial reforms implemented in the 2000s.

Materials and methods: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative design employed semi-structured interviews with 21 social workers across Metropolitana and Biobío regions (2020-2022). Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling from family courts (n = 14) and criminal justice settings (n = 7). Thematic analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti software, applying integrated deductive-inductive approaches grounded in sociology of public action, law and society studies, and feminist ethics of care frameworks.

Results: Three fundamental transformations emerged: social workers introduced gender perspectives and care ethics into judicial practices, catalyzing shifts from punitive toward relational interventions prioritizing human dignity and social complexity; active collaboration developed between social workers and lawyers, generating productive tensions that enhanced each profession's expertise in addressing complex social-legal issues; differentiated professional roles materialized, with social workers functioning as judicial partners in family cases and community-legal mediators in criminal contexts.

Discussion: Care ethics integration constitutes a fundamental challenge to traditional juridical capital, promoting contextually-sensitive justice models. Social workers operate as institutional entrepreneurs, employing street-level bureaucratic practices to gradually transform institutional cultures despite persistent professional hierarchies and resource constraints.

Conclusion: Chilean judicial reforms facilitated social work integration, contributing to justice system humanization through structural transformations. Social workers consolidated their role as agents of institutional change, though sustained investment in human resources and policies prioritizing social perspectives remains essential for advancing paradigmatic shifts toward inclusive, people-centered justice models.