Impact of a Trauma-Informed Intervention for Youth and Staff on Rates of Violence in Juvenile Detention Settings

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051985716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly Lyn Baetz ◽  
Michael Surko ◽  
Mahtab Moaveni ◽  
Felicia McNair ◽  
Amanda Bart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Juvenile Detention ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Facility Level ◽  
The Impact

The majority of youth in the juvenile justice system have experienced multiple traumatic events in their lives, including community violence, physical abuse, neglect, and traumatic loss. These high prevalence rates, coupled with the known negative consequences of trauma in childhood and adolescence, have led to a greater emphasis on implementing trauma-informed services and practices within juvenile justice settings. However, although many stakeholders and government entities have expressed support for creating more trauma-informed juvenile justice systems, there is still limited empirical knowledge about which interventions are most effective at improving outcomes, particularly at the organizational or facility level. In an effort to fill this gap, the current study evaluated the impact of a trauma-informed milieu intervention, including skills training for youth and training for staff, on rates of violence at two secure juvenile detention facilities ( N = 14,856) located in a large Northeastern city. The analyses revealed that the intervention was significantly related to a reduction of violent incidents in Facility A, with no impact on incidents in Facility B. Follow-up analyses revealed that a larger proportion of eligible youth in Facility A completed the skills group program as compared with eligible youth in Facility B (16% vs. 9%). This finding has important implications for the implementation of trauma-informed interventions for youth in juvenile detention settings, as it suggests that to impact outcomes at the facility level, a minimum threshold of youth may need to be exposed to the intervention. In addition, reductions in violence at Facility A were only realized after both staff training and youth skills components were implemented, suggesting that both components are necessary to create change at the facility level. Future research is needed to further explore the impact of organizational and implementation-level factors on trauma-informed care outcomes in juvenile justice settings.

scholarly journals 0979 Observational Analysis Of Juvenile Justice Sleep-wake Environment

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A372-A372
Author(s):  
J P Adornetti ◽  
M Carlucci ◽  
S J Crowley ◽  
C M Fleshman ◽  
S L Jobe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Juvenile Detention ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
Sleep Environment ◽  
Facility Level

Abstract Introduction Adolescence is associated with sleep regulatory changes that prompt sleep and circadian timing to shift later (delay). Poor quality, insufficient sleep, and misaligned sleep-wake schedules increase adolescents’ risk for physical and mental health consequences. Little data exists on potential sleep health risks and sleep-wake environments of juvenile justice facilities. This descriptive study examined the sleep-wake environment and daily schedules at juvenile detention and treatment centers in a Mid-Atlantic state. Methods Using our Sleep Justice Observational Checklist, researchers recorded number of windows in sleep and non-sleep areas, and number of beds in sleeping quarters. Illuminance was measured with a light meter during the daytime (standing, sitting, etc.) and averaged. Facility-level 24-hour schedules were obtained to determine youth’s daily routines during the observation period. Results In comparison to treatment centers, detention centers have earlier lights-on (MDet = 6:07 am, SDDet =:40 vs. MTreat = 6:54 am, SDTreat =:07, p = .04) and lights-off (MDet = 8:42 pm, SDDet =:36 vs. MTreat = 9:06 pm, SDTreat =:19, N.S.) times. Treatment center illuminance levels (M = 296.60 lux, SD = 150.30) were greater (brighter) compared to detention centers (M = 124.00 lux, SD = 60.40, p = .01). Per sleep area, treatment centers had more windows (MTreat = 7.84, SDTreat = 6.70 vs. MDet = 1.73, SDDet = .77, p = .02) and more beds (MTreat = 13.30, SDTreat = 14.00 vs. MDet = 1.46, SDDet = .96, p = .03) than detention centers. Conclusion Preliminary results indicate a variation in the sleep-wake environments and daily schedules in this sample of juvenile justice centers. Early lights-on and lights-off times can impose a higher risk for circadian misalignment in adolescents, though schedule consistency may reduce this risk. Ongoing data collection will help to further understand the sleep environment of adolescents in the juvenile justice system. Support Kolvenbach Research Grant, Loyola University Maryland

Safety at a girls secure juvenile justice facility

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura J. Elwyn ◽  
Nina Esaki ◽  
Carolyn A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Sanctuary Model ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Serious Offenders ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Serious juvenile delinquency is a significant and costly problem in the society. However, custodial environments often exacerbate current problems and promote recidivism. Girls’ delinquency, in particular, may call for trauma-informed approaches within organizations that serve the most serious offenders. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether implementation of a trauma-informed intervention that aims to change the therapeutic stand of the organization, the Sanctuary Model®, corresponded with improved indicators of physical and psychological safety of staff and youth at a female secure juvenile justice facility. Design/methodology/approach – This study utilizes quantitative administrative and performance-based standards (PbS) data routinely collected at the facility. Findings – Findings suggest that the facility was a safer place for both residents and staff after implementation of the model. Its safety indicators also compare favorably to those of the juvenile justice correctional field in general. Research limitations/implications – This study was constrained by a number of limitations, including lack of some desirable detail on the PbS measures and on a comparable field group of girls’ facilities. It is also hard to assess the impact of other concurrent changes in the facility. Future research that addresses these issues would be useful in further determining the utility of the model. Originality/value – This study is the first to examine the impact of a structured trauma-informed organizational change intervention based on therapeutic communities principles, namely the Sanctuary Model, on staff and youth in a secure juvenile justice facility. Findings may be of value to practitioners, administrators, policy makers, and researchers in the corrections field.

scholarly journals The Gendered Path for Girls in Rural Communities: The Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Presenting at Juvenile Detention Facilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 001112872110226
Author(s):  
April N. Terry ◽  
Ashley Lockwood ◽  
Morgan Steele ◽  
Megan Milner
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Juvenile Detention ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Court Processing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Detention Facilities

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, girls and women represented one of the fastest growing populations within the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Since the spread of COVID-19, suggestions were provided to juvenile justice bodies, encouraging a reduction of youth arrests, detainments, and quicker court processing. Yet, the research comparing peri-COVID-19 changes for girls and boys is lacking, with an oversight to gender trends and rural and urban differences. This study used Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) data from a rural Midwestern state to look at rural and urban location trends for both boys and girls. Results suggest rural communities are responding differently to girls’ behaviors, revealing a slower decline in intakes compared to boys and youth in urban areas.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-697
Author(s):  
L. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Detention ◽  
The State ◽  
Juvenile Courts ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
State Statutes ◽  
Parens Patriae

Today, when some critics of our juvenile-justice system are complaining that the system is incompetent in dealing with violent young criminals, other critics are complaining that it is showing amazing efficiency in locking up—often for long periods—troubled young people who have not been charged with committing any crime, violent or otherwise. Such young people, they point out, represent approximately forty per cent of the hundred thousand-odd children who will be sent to jail this year for at least twenty-four hours and of the twelve thousand who will be placed in juvenile-detention centers every day. These children, who are variously labelled Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS), Children in Need of Supervision (CINS), Juveniles in Need of Supervision (JINS), or Wayward Minors, depending on the state they live in, will be guilty of nothing more serious than being a burden or a nuisance. They are not juvenile criminals—they have committed no act for which an adult could be prosecuted. Mainly, they are children who are truant from school, who have run away from home, or whose parents (the majority of them poor) find them too difficult to manage. Under one name or another, the PINS judicial category is written into the laws of forty-one states, and children who are assigned to it occupy, according to one estimate, as much as forty-one per cent of the case load of juvenile courts.... Underlying all the state statutes [is] the doctrine of parens patriae drawn from English chancery law—that the court could act to resolve the problems of troubled children as if it were a parent.

The importance of timing: The varying impact of childhood and adolescent maltreatment on multiple problem outcomes

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 957-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
TERENCE P. THORNBERRY ◽  
TIMOTHY O. IRELAND ◽  
CAROLYN A. SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Teen Pregnancy ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Teenage Pregnancy ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Impact

A substantial body of literature suggests that childhood maltreatment is related to negative outcomes during adolescence, including delinquency, drug use, teenage pregnancy, and school failure. There has been relatively little research examining the impact that variation in the developmental stage during which the maltreatment occurs has on these relationships, however. In this paper, we reassess the impact of maltreatment on a number of adverse outcomes when developmentally specific measures of maltreatment—maltreatment that occurs only in childhood, only in adolescence, or in both childhood and adolescence—are considered. Data are drawn from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a broad-based longitudinal study of adolescent development. The analysis examines how maltreatment affects delinquency, drug use, alcohol-related problems, depressive symptoms, teen pregnancy, school dropout, and internalizing and externalizing problems during adolescence. We also examine whether the type of maltreatment experienced at various developmental stages influences the outcomes. Overall, our results suggest that adolescent and persistent maltreatment have stronger and more consistent negative consequences during adolescence than does maltreatment experienced only in childhood.

scholarly journals Race and Stereotypes Matter When You Ask About Conduct Problems: Implications for Violence Risk Assessment in Juvenile Justice Settings

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-51
Author(s):  
James R. Andretta ◽  
Frank C. Worrell ◽  
Katara M. Watkins ◽  
Ryan M. Sutton ◽  
Adrian D. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Substantial Effect ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Violence Risk ◽  
Identity Attitudes ◽  
The Impact

We examined the impact of stigma priming on self-reported severe conduct problems in two studies conducted with African American adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system. Data-collection interviews were conducted in a secure detention setting following arrest. In Study 1 ( N = 193), stigma was primed by manipulating the ordering of surveys. Adolescents who completed a questionnaire about racial identity attitudes prior to questions about severe conduct reported substantively more problematic behaviors than control group peers (β = 0.43). In Study 2 ( N = 264), stigma was primed by manipulating whether adolescents were interviewed by an African American or European American mental health professional. Racial group membership of the interviewer did not have a substantial effect on self-reported conduct problems (β = −0.04). Although the studies were not without limitations, they highlight the need for more research on the degree to which interview methods and context influence self-reported severe conduct behavior in forensic settings.

The Impact of Victimization, Mental Health Problems, and Disabilities on Juvenile Justice Processing: Does Gender Matter?

2020 ◽  
pp. 001112872095002
Author(s):  
Allison T. Chappell ◽  
Scott R. Maggard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Delinquent Behavior ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Impact

Victimization, mental health problems, and disabilities are associated with an increased likelihood of delinquent behavior, and girls in the juvenile justice system report higher rates of past trauma and victimization, sexual abuse, and mental health issues than boys. However, the influence of these problems on juvenile justice processing remains understudied. This study investigated the impact of victimization, mental health problems, disabilities, and comorbidity on intake and adjudication decisions across gender. Data on 74,636 intake cases were obtained from the centralized database of the juvenile justice office in a mid-Atlantic state (FY 2011–2015). Findings suggest that mental health problems, victimization, and disabilities are associated with increased punitiveness at intake but few consistent gender differences emerged. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

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