This study is a small-n case study that inductively builds a theory of embedded autonomous social work policing. Embedded autonomous social work policing is a proposed model of social work policing that entails Master Social Work (MSW) social workers being at once embedded and trained within police departments while remaining hired, funded, and answerable to the human services bureaucracy in a locality. The main site of application of the theory of embedded autonomy to social work policing involves co-responder calls for service wherein both a social work expert and a law enforcement officer are necessitated owing to the gray i.e. potentially non-criminal or potentially criminal nature of the call for service depending on the success of de-escalation techniques or the lack thereof. The costs and benefits of the implementation of an embedded autonomous model of social work policing is inductively built through a case study analysis of three cases of social work policing involving fieldwork research. The three cases analyzed are Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Kentucky; Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) in Eugene, Oregon; and Crisis Avoidance Response Efforts (CARE) 7 in Tempe, Arizona.

Since the days of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, the intellectual community has been divided in two. This division has continued into the present day, most notably evidenced by the dichotomy between science and arts majors. There has been much debate over the last two centuries regarding how to bridge this divide, and whether or not doing so is necessary. Scholars like C. P. Snow have argued that interdisciplinary education is humanity’s only hope for confronting its current and future problems, while scholars like F.R. Leavis believe calls to restructure education are an oversimplification of a more complex problem. With its emphasis on global and local outreach, interdisciplinary education, and use-inspired research, the New American University model currently in use by Arizona State University is a literal attempt at bridging this divide. Schools like the College of Integrated Sciences and Arts have created an environment that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration. President Crow attributes this progress to what he calls “the design approach.” Unlike a rigid blueprint, the design approach instead looks at each problem in isolation, allowing for a unique solution to be tailor-made to fit each scenario. Despite the initial successes of the New American University model, however, it is still important to remain observant and critical of its practices into the future, as too much of an emphasis on interdisciplinarity could have the opposite of its intended effect, and potentially drive students who wish to specialize away from traditional universities altogether.