Introduction

Trauma-informed practice and care are emerging as an important way of working for the police, in corrections and courts. Nevertheless, few academics have examined whether trauma-informed practice exists across criminal justice agencies or in sentencing. This book uses a framework developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2014) to explore the degree to which criminal justice agencies are trauma-informed. The book is divided into three parts. The first part examines how adversity, trauma, and crime are related. The second part of the book focuses on trauma-informed criminal justice responses to people who have offended, victims of crime, and professionals at risk of vicarious trauma. The third part focuses on trauma-informed sentencing and compassionate justice through therapeutic jurisprudence and judicial empathy. This book argues that we should embrace compassionate justice and trauma-informed ways of working to better achieve a safer and more secure community for everyone.