The law and legal processes can affect the psychological and emotional well-being of the people involved. Individuals who are already traumatized can experience stress which triggers prior trauma through court policies, practices, and environment during involvement with the child abuse and neglect court system. However, some courts use trauma-informed policies, practices, and environments which are based on the notion of therapeutic jurisprudence. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if dependency court personnel in larger jurisdictions have differing understandings of trauma, and differing perceptions of court policies, practices, and environment than their counterparts from smaller jurisdictions. Results indicate that smaller jurisdiction personnel have a higher understanding of trauma, as well as perceive themselves to be more trauma-informed in the areas of policy, practice, and environment when compared to larger jurisdiction personnel. Implications are discussed and recommendations from a therapeutic jurisprudence framework are suggested.
Minimal research has examined sentencing outcomes in teacher–student sexual abuse cases, while the research that has been conducted has primarily focused on gender and attractiveness. Furthermore, the body of literature examining how gender affects sentencing has contradictory findings. Age of the victim and number of victims may also play a role in sentencing outcomes. The current study aimed to better understand which factors (by examining how gender of the victim and defendant, age of the victim and defendant, and having multiple victims) are associated with sentencing outcomes in cases where teachers engage in inappropriate sexual relationships with students. The sentencing outcomes that were assessed include length of incarceration, likelihood of having to register as a sexual offender, and likelihood of being incarcerated. The current study reviewed 250 cases that were covered in the media between 2008 and 2010 that involved a defendant who was accused of sexual contact with a student whom they had contact with through their role as an educator or school staff member. Results indicate that defendant age, victim age, and whether there was one or multiple victims had significant implications for sentencing outcomes. An increase in victim age was associated with a decreased likelihood of incarceration, shorter incarceration lengths, and a decreased likelihood to be required to register as a sexual offender. An increase in defendant age was also associated with increased likelihood of incarceration. Furthermore, having multiple victims was associated with increased incarceration lengths. This study has implications for school policies and teacher training specific to building appropriate relationships and boundaries with students. Given the rise in reporting of sexual abuse cases between teachers and their students, implementing more comprehensive ethics training is paramount.
This paper examines the efforts of a court to improve outcomes for older youth who are exiting foster care by implementing an Emancipation Checklist (EC) to guide discussion around 12 stability indicators thought to improve youth transition to adulthood (e.g., education, employment). Over 90% of youth had medical insurance, all personal documents, a permanent connection, and could identify their core values. Less than half were employed or engaged in educational or vocational training. Youth who exited when they were older and who attended more of their court hearings had more stability indicators. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
This study examined judge‐juvenile verbal interaction characteristics, demographics, and demographic match at adjudication and their associations with juveniles’ behavioral outcomes. Data were collected from audio recordings of hearings and case files from 86 delinquency cases adjudicated in an urban juvenile court in the Southwestern United States as part of a larger research project involving observable procedural justice. Results suggest that some juvenile, judge, and match characteristics had significant associations with both judge‐juvenile interactions (e.g., length of conversations) and juvenile case outcomes (e.g., fewer continuances). We detail these findings and offer considerations for court practice.
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