{"id":2806,"date":"2024-08-12T05:28:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T09:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=2806"},"modified":"2024-08-12T05:28:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T09:28:46","slug":"how-to-think-when-interacting-with-justice-impacted-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2024\/08\/12\/how-to-think-when-interacting-with-justice-impacted-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Think When Interacting With Justice Impacted Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Youth justice is an essential area of concern for the criminal justice system that is often not given enough attention (Rousseau, 2024). Trauma and crisis related issues involving youth are far more common than society perceives, and the current systems in place, are not equipped to effectively aid justice-impacted youth (Rousseau, 2024). It is important to remember that there are fundamental differences between how youth and adults react to trauma, and as a result, there are two significant considerations that practitioners should keep in mind when interacting with justice impacted youth. Incorporating these suggestions into daily practice will ensure that proper and effective treatment is administered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first consideration to keep in mind is that youth often don\u2019t openly disclose trauma that\u2019s affecting them. Youth do not openly discuss the traumatic experiences of their lives, which can act as a barrier for both diagnosis and treatment (v<\/span>an der Kolk, 2014)<\/span> – it is impossible to effectively administer treatment if we are unaware of what we are treating. This lack of forthcomingness should not be viewed as youth being intentionally \u201cdifficult\u201d, but a consequence of them experiencing trauma at such a young age. Studies have shown that early trauma can affect the development of the prefrontal cortex, which causes increased sensitivity to physical and psychological environments (Rousseau, 2024). Keep in mind that the resulting changes to the prefrontal cortex can lead some youth to become hypersensitive to stressful stimuli, unable to self-regulate emotions, or have elevated levels of fear or anxiety (Rousseau, 2024). Those who interact with which justice impacted youth need to recognize that their demeanor and lack of transparency is a natural part of their reaction to trauma, and therefore interactions should be adapted accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondly, practitioners should recognize that due to a lack of openness on the part of youth, misdiagnosis is common (<\/span>van der Kolk, 2014)<\/span>. When working with justice-impacted youth, it is important to look past any previous diagnostic labels since they can be unrepresentative of that individual. False diagnosis can lead to improper treatment, and therefore the underlying issues of that patient, will never be addressed. Diagnoses can stick, meaning that a patient might be destined to an ineffective treatment plan if practitioners don\u2019t look past previous labels. While it\u2019s not suggested to throw out any previous diagnoses, what is important to remember is that based on the nature of how youth respond to trauma as discussed above, practitioners should reasonably question previous diagnosis in order to determine effective treatment plans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To better integrate trauma informed practices into juvenile justice there are a number of recommendations that can be implemented such as the following;<\/span><\/p>\n