1. As a professional human service worker, you will need to work alongside courtroom personnel. Based on how a courtroom work group functions and how you can work productively and efficiently with them, please answer the following:

• Describe the courtroom work group. What is it? Who are the key players?
• Briefly analyze the role this work group plays within the criminal courts.
• What are the roles of professional service workers in this system?
• What can a professional service worker do to ensure they can work successfully with the courtroom work group?

2. As professional service workers, you may face complex challenges from tightly knit courtroom work groups because of the mechanical nature of their work, which at times neglects the individuality of the justice-involved individuals caught in the system.

• Based on your analysis of the courtroom work group, is the defense attorney an advocate for the system or their clients?
• How might human service workers intervene or participate in the system in order to be advocates for justice-involved individuals?
• How might human service workers respond to this challenge using current practices?