Trauma‐Informed Approaches to Juvenile Justice: A Critical Race Perspective

Abstract

Youth of color experience disproportionate juvenile justice contact and recidivism. Trauma‐informed approaches may provide important support to these youth and improve their future outcomes. This paper describes dynamics of the various levels of the juvenile justice system (i.e., police contact, courts, correctional placement, aftercare) that perpetuate psychological trauma among adjudicated youth of color. This paper explores trauma‐informed approaches from a critical race theory perspective to address issues of systemic racial injustice in the juvenile justice system. Current and emerging models for trauma‐informed juvenile justice and implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Trauma-informed juvenile justice systems: A systematic review of definitions and core components.

“…Fifty-two full-text records were reviewed, of which 42 were excluded, leaving a total of 10 publications selected for inclusion (denoted by an asterisk in the References ). The 42 excluded full-text records included 15 publications that called for TIC in juvenile justice but did not provide a definition or detailed recommendations (e.g., Ko et al, 2008), six publications that discussed trauma screening/treatment only (e.g., Igelman, Ryan, Gilbert, Bashant, & North, 2008), and five publications that cited someone else’s definition of TIC (e.g., Crosby, 2016). …”

Unaccompanied Children at the United States Border, a Human Rights Crisis that can be Addressed with Policy Change

“…Moreover, we believe some of the injustices perpetrated by the U.S. government against children placed in Customs and Border Protection custody, including the violation of children's rights to security, health, and freedom from all forms of violence, could have been prevented through trauma-informed education among border personnel. The area of training and capacity-building for law enforcement staff working with minor asylum seekers is underdeveloped and understudied; however, promising models can be adopted from the juvenile justice system [55]. Neither costly nor time-consuming, training interventions have potential to improve children's treatment by law enforcement staff in a short timeframe.…”

Perceptions of Recidivism Among Incarcerated Youth: The Relationship Between Exposure to Childhood Trauma, Mental Health Status, and the Protective Effect of Mental Health Services in Juvenile Justice Settings

“…This may include a shift from a punitive to a more rehabilitative philosophy (Crosby, 2016). To do this the system must create an organized assessment and intake process that are sensitive to trauma and that avoid re-traumatization, that identify trauma histories through screening, and ensuring that once identified, youth receive appropriate treatment (Crosby, 2016;Ford et al, 2006). Implementing changes may require organizational oversight to ensure quality assurance for practice changes as well as incentives and reinforcement to ensure sustainability of practice changes (Berliner & Kolko, 2016).…”

“…This may include a shift from a punitive to a more rehabilitative philosophy (Crosby, 2016). To do this the system must create an organized assessment and intake process that are sensitive to trauma and that avoid re-traumatization, that identify trauma histories through screening, and ensuring that once identified, youth receive appropriate treatment (Crosby, 2016;Ford et al, 2006).…”

“…Trauma-informed care may be subsumed under current mental health practices but trauma specific interventions may be more effective and contextually appropriate for this population of youth. There have been several calls to develop systems that identify and treat traumatized youth (Berliner & Kolko, 2016;Crosby, 2016;Ko et al, 2008). Interventions such as trauma-focused CBT have led to improved outcomes for adjudicated teens including reduced depression, PTSD, and recidivism (Cohen et al, 2016).…”