Trauma-Informed Sentencing

Sentencing is the process of determining an appropriate sanction in response to proven criminal behaviour based on the law, the context, and the surrounding circumstances of the offence. This chapter explains and demonstrates the application of the sentencing calculus, which comprises sentencing purposes, principles, factors, and non-legal considerations. Judges must explain in sentencing remarks how they have applied the sentencing calculus to the facts of a case to determine the most appropriate sanction to impose. This chapter argues that sentencing should be trauma-informed to achieve sentencing purposes, notably community safety. There is a difference between sentencing where defendants’ trauma has been acknowledged and “trauma-informed sentencing”, the latter being a conscious, evidence-informed strategy that acknowledges trauma-crime relationships. The chapter demonstrates how trauma-informed sentencing is a form of smart justice by applying behaviour change evidence to inform the more efficacious sanction. Trauma-informed sentencing is also a form of justice reinvestment and therapeutic jurisprudence.