As social workers, we strive for social justice by affecting social systems at numerous levels, and often through our work with disadvantaged populations. The U.S. criminal justice system has a tremendous impact on disadvantaged populations and, as such, has much overlap with social work in terms of persons involved in both entities. However, social workers often are inadequately trained to recognize this interface and to influence it in ways that lead to positive results for the client systems they serve. This course will extend our understanding of the U.S. criminal justice system, how it intersects with the social work profession and client systems, and how social workers can promote social justice at this critical juncture. The focus of this course will be on adult criminal justice involvement; students who have interest in the juvenile justice system may choose to focus on this population in their individual assignments. This course is applicable to any student who wishes to better understand how the criminal justice system interacts with the clients they serve (whether the student plans to work in a criminal justice-specific setting or not).