Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice Responses: Being “Sweet, Nice and Kind”?

Trauma-informed approaches advocate for compassionate responses for everyone involved in the justice system: victims of crime, justice practitioners, and people who have offended. Drawing from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. US Department of Health and Human Services, 2014) 4Rs framework, this chapter examines existing “trauma-informed practice” across the criminal justice system. The momentum for trauma-informed criminal justice practices is growing, making it hard to keep track of new and emerging international ideas. Many agencies focus on educating their workforce about the presence and relevance of trauma, but effective responses remain ad hoc and isolated rather than systematic. Police do not respond in a trauma-informed manner consistently, correctional service agencies are likely to claim to be trauma-informed with limited success, and the judiciary is the most likely to be able to demonstrate trauma-informed practices in mainstream and specialist courts. This chapter concludes by examining further opportunities for the justice system to be trauma-informed.