Abstract
Society struggles with mistreated, acting-out youth, vacillating between offering help and punishing. The Supreme Court has recently considered issues of adolescence and brain development when reviewing youth sentences; however, sentencing goals remain a local policy decision. Traditionally, our juvenile justice system follows either a punitive or a mental health model. This article offers a trauma-informed model, arguing that it is consistent with the Supreme Court’s approach and with sentencing goals. It reviews how the trauma-informed model differs from the two previous models, why this is preferable, and how to implement the new model in juvenile justice settings.
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Griffin, G., Germain, E.J. & Wilkerson, R.G. Using a Trauma-Informed Approach in Juvenile Justice Institutions. Journ Child Adol Trauma 5, 271–283 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2012.697100
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2012.697100