Abstract
Youth incarcerated in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately exposed to traumas both in and outside of custody that are associated with poor social, behavioral, and developmental outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to describe one pathway through which trauma can impact a myriad of outcomes, including delinquency, violence, substance use, and other behaviors that are self-regulatory in nature. Relevant research from the developmental neuroscience, juvenile justice, and trauma literatures are drawn upon and synthesized to describe this pathway. Using a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the role that brain development and neural activity play in the relationship between trauma and associated behavioral outcomes could serve to inform juvenile justice policy decisions and intervention practice. Such application could increase the effectiveness with which juvenile justice systems work with one of the most vulnerable and traumatized populations of youth in today’s society: those incarcerated in our juvenile justice system.
Highlights
Youth incarcerated in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately exposed to experiences outside of custody that are known to increase the risk for physical violence, delinquency and self-injurious behaviors [1]
Research from the developmental neuroscience, juvenile justice and childhood trauma literature is synthesized to describe: (1) one pathway through which childhood trauma impacts normative adolescent development; (2) how that impact mediates the relationship between trauma and the proximal outcomes that increase the risk for juvenile justice involvement; and (3) the ways in which this particular pathway is amenable to intervention strategies feasible within the juvenile justice system
Incarcerated youth are a population at risk for a multitude of poor social, behavioral and developmental outcomes due to their disproportionate exposure to circumstances, both in and out of custody, that act as barriers to healthy development, and contribute to and exacerbate the high rate of emotional problems and recidivism found in this population
Summary
Youth incarcerated in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately exposed to experiences outside of custody that are known to increase the risk for physical violence, delinquency and self-injurious behaviors [1]. Laws 2014, 3 victimization and exposure to violence [2,3,4], and poverty and family disruption [2,5] All of these experiences can be categorized as childhood traumas, the proximal results of which include an increased risk for substance use disorders, conduct disorders, delinquency [6], violent behavior, carrying a weapon, bulling, suicidal ideation and attempted suicide [1]. The juvenile justice literature has begun to focus attention on the need for trauma-informed clinical practice and treatment in working with juvenile justice-involved youth [8,9], what has yet to be fully described is the mechanism by which childhood trauma impacts such a wide array of outcomes, many of which are associated with increased risk for juvenile justice involvement. Research from the developmental neuroscience, juvenile justice and childhood trauma literature is synthesized to describe: (1) one pathway through which childhood trauma impacts normative adolescent development; (2) how that impact mediates the relationship between trauma and the proximal outcomes that increase the risk for juvenile justice involvement; and (3) the ways in which this particular pathway is amenable to intervention strategies feasible within the juvenile justice system
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