How Being Trauma Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses

Course overview

Although prevalence estimates vary, there is consensus that high percentages of justice involved women and men have experienced serious trauma throughout their life. The reverberating effects of trauma experiences can challenge a person's capacity for recovery and pose significant barriers to accessing services, often resulting in an increased risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system. How being trauma informed improves criminal justice system responses is a training program for criminal justice professionals to: increase understanding of trauma create an awareness of the impact of trauma on behavior develop trauma informed responses trauma informed criminal justice responses can help avoid retraumatizing individuals, and thereby increase safety for all, decrease recidivism, and promote and support recovery of justice involved women and men with serious mental illness. Partnerships across systems can also help to link individuals to trauma-informed services and treatment for trauma.