Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice Professionals
Within our criminal justice system, many individuals both victims and perpetrators have experienced some degree of trauma in their lives. Research reveals that both men and women report a history of traumatic experience prior to an incarceration. Furthermore, incarceration itself if viewed by some as a traumatic experience for the men, women, and juveniles who are incarcerated for breaking society’s laws. With this being the case, there has been a recent push for criminal justice professionals to understand the effects of trauma, its signs and symptoms, and how to provide support, rehabilitation, and closure to an individual who has experienced trauma in their life. Being ‘trauma-informed’ is one way that criminal justice professionals aim to help those who have been impacted by trauma or traumatic events throughout their life.
When criminal justice professionals are trauma-informed, they learn how to interact with individuals who have experienced trauma while being able to protect themselves from danger/harm that the individual who has experienced trauma may try to inflict as a defense mechanism. Criminal justice professionals are then able to better deal with at-risk populations and recognize what trauma looks like. For example, some types of trauma include:
– Sexual Abuse
– Physical Abuse
– Witnessing a Natural Disaster
– Serving in Combat or Being a Victim of Way
– Repeated Abuse as a Child
– Witnessing a Brutal Shooting
All of the above noted stressors that lead to trauma can impact how an individual views the world and molds their intent, trust, and relationships with others as well as criminal justice professionals. If our criminal justice system becomes more trauma-informed, we may be better equipped to address the needs to an individual who has experienced trauma and understand the root of their behaviors, criminal and noncriminal.
Toward Creating a Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice System. (2012, June 06). Retrieved June 19, 2017, from https://www.prainc.com/creating-a-trauma-informed-criminal-justice-system/