Reducing Mass Incarceration Through Trauma-Informed Pedagogy

2022 ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
Belinda Marie Alexander-Ashley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Trauma Research ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
School Pedagogy

This chapter outlines strategies and practices that align with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's trauma-informed approach applied to school pedagogy in the United States to minimize or prevent trauma, especially for students referred to the school-to-prison pipeline, consequently reducing mass incarceration. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the United States' health crisis exposed a vulnerability for people of color, poorer communities, and those incarcerated, stressing a need to respond expediently to address trauma in marginalized communities. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Connection referred to childhood trauma as “America's hidden health crisis.” Focusing on trauma for school-aged youth offers a path to preventing or minimizing trauma. Research suggests that more robust, multidisciplinary research, with an intentional purpose to transform teacher practices and responses to disciplinary conduct, is needed.

Assessing the Victimizaton-Offending Hypothesis of Sexual and Non-Sexual Violence in a Nationally Representative Sample of Incarcerated Men in the United States: Implications for Trauma-Informed Practice in Correctional Settings

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110501
Author(s):  
Phillip Marotta
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sexual Offenses ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Violent Offenses

Rates of exposure to sexual and non-sexual physical violence and other adverse childhood events are greater among people who are incarcerated with convictions for offenses related to sexual and non-sexual violence compared to other incarcerated populations and the general community. Few studies have differentiated which types of prior adverse experiences are greatest predictors of sexual and non-sexual violent offenses. The following study investigated associations between experiencing sexual abuse as a child or adult; experiencing non-sexual physical violence during childhood, adulthood, or both; having a caretaker who uses drugs; being in foster care; growing up in socioeconomically marginalized conditions; and the likelihood of reporting a prior physical or sexual conviction. The sample consisted of 13,604 men incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States. Multinomial regression models compared convictions for sexual offenses and non-sexual violent offenses to all other crimes. A model also compared sexual offenses to non-sexual violent offenses to differentiate between types of adverse childhood experiences associated with sexual versus non-sexual violent offending. Models adjusted for race/ethnicity, education, and age. Results suggest that exposure to violence during childhood was significantly and violence during adulthood was insignificantly associated with increased risk of conviction for a non-sexual physical offense. Sexual violence victimization as a child only was associated with increased risk of conviction for sexual violence perpetration during adulthood. Foster care involvement was associated with increased risk of being convicted for a non-sexual violent offense. Findings suggest that different traumatic pathways may differentiate types of aggression in adulthood. Future research must evaluate if trauma-informed approaches should be catered to address the unique effects of sexual and non-sexual victimization and the perpetration of different types of aggression in adulthood.

Adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed care: treating the whole patient with a more complete osteopathic approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Brian Marcoux
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
System Level ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In 1998, a seminal study identified a strong connection between participants’ exposures to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the development of risk factors for serious health conditions later in life. More than two decades later, leaders in both policy and health care professions now appreciate the impact of social determinants of health, including the enormous societal costs incurred by deleterious experiences, and recognize that treating illness begins with prevention in early childhood. The trauma informed care (TIC) model offers a treatment approach that lends consideration to the traumatic experiences that impact a given patient and allows for more complete treatment by their physician. Delivering care under the TIC model encourages trauma identification, early intervention, system level awareness and policy change, and avoiding retraumatization in the therapeutic setting. Various programs across the country seek to employ these methods at the community, state, and federal level. Several programs aimed at introducing medical students to these principles have contributed to an incorporation of TIC within the physician pipeline. In this Commentary, the author proposes an expansion of the Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine with a fifth principle—considering the implications of a patient’s past formative experiences, their present life circumstances, and their future prospects—as a vehicle for instilling TIC principles ubiquitously throughout osteopathic medical training to develop physicians who treat the whole person more completely and are better equipped to manage this public health crisis.

Newspaper Coverage of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress in the United States, 2014–2020: Consequences, Causes, and Solutions

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110294
Author(s):  
Jonathan Purtle ◽  
Sarah Bowler ◽  
Maura Boughter-Dornfeld ◽  
Katherine L. Nelson ◽  
Sarah E. Gollust
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
News Media ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Toxic Stress ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood

News media can shape public opinion about child adversity and influence the translation of research into public policy. Research about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress has increased dramatically in recent years, but little is known about how these concepts are covered in news media. We reviewed how newspapers in the United States have portrayed the consequences of, causes of, and solutions to address ACEs and toxic stress, examined trends in newspaper coverage, and assessed differences in coverage of ACEs versus toxic stress. Quantitative content analysis was conducted of 746 newspaper articles mentioning “adverse childhood experience(s)” and/or “toxic stress” published in 25 U.S. newspapers between January 1, 2014, and May 30, 2020. κ statistics of interrater reliability were calculated, and variables with κ ≥ .60 were retained for quantitative analysis. We found that newspaper coverage of ACEs and toxic stress increased dramatically between 2014 and 2018 and then sharply declined. Only 13.3% of articles mentioned both ACEs and toxic stress. There were many statistically significant ( p < .05) differences in the causes, consequences, and solutions identified in articles focused on ACEs versus toxic stress. Coverage of both concepts predominantly focused on consequences for individuals, not society. However, 54.6% of articles identified a structural cause of ACEs and/or toxic stress. Increased volume in newspaper coverage about ACEs and toxic stress could increase public awareness about the relationship between childhood adversity and adult outcomes. There is a need to portray ACEs and toxic stress as complementary concepts more coherently in news media.

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