Trauma-Informed: Dependency Court Personnel’s Understanding of Trauma and Perceptions of Court Policies, Practices, and Environment

Abstract

The law and legal processes can affect the psychological and emotional well-being of the people involved. Individuals who are already traumatized can experience stress which triggers prior trauma through court policies, practices, and environment during involvement with the child abuse and neglect court system. However, some courts use trauma-informed policies, practices, and environments which are based on the notion of therapeutic jurisprudence. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if dependency court personnel in larger jurisdictions have differing understandings of trauma, and differing perceptions of court policies, practices, and environment than their counterparts from smaller jurisdictions. Results indicate that smaller jurisdiction personnel have a higher understanding of trauma, as well as perceive themselves to be more trauma-informed in the areas of policy, practice, and environment when compared to larger jurisdiction personnel. Implications are discussed and recommendations from a therapeutic jurisprudence framework are suggested.