Addressing the Connection Between Trauma and Delinquency
According to the NIH: National Library of Medicine – National Center for Biotechnology Information –
Healthcare providers and anchor systems are beginning to explore trauma through a more inclusive lens. However, traditional definitions of trauma as a purely physical phenomenon are still prevalent, such as in the case of the Coalition for National Trauma Research website that defines trauma as: “traumatic injury includes that from vehicular collisions, falls from heights, gunshot wounds and burns…”. If healthcare providers and healthcare systems are to break down the structural barriers that negatively impact and promote the under-resourcing and marginalization of populations and communities, trauma must be considered in a broader, more multi-layered definition.
One of the major emphases of the Missouri Juvenile Justice’s division of Handle with Care Missouri is toilluminate the notion that childhood trauma and delinquency have major intersections and clear connections. As NIH states, there is a need to “break down the structural barriers that negatively impact and promote the under-resourcing and marginalization of populations and communities.” Moreover, there is a greater need to explore trauma in a “broader, more multi-layered definition,” including bullying, historical and structural trauma, microaggressions, abuse of power and control. These might be major catalyst for childhood delinquency.
This image describes the many levels on which trauma is experienced. Traumatic experiences can occur on individual, interpersonal, and/or collective levels; these levels do not necessarily occur in isolation, but rather as intersectional and dynamic layers.
Blog Prompt:
As you study the chart, do you think juvenile professionals are considering trauma as a possible cause for childhood delinquency? Thoughts?
Comment below