Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice in the United States

Although most young offenders have experienced some form of trauma, the juvenile justice system in the United States is ill-equipped to deal with the effects of trauma, and its focus on punishment often further traumatizes youth. This text presents a much-needed alternative to the current system, advocating trauma-informed interventions based on principles of healing and restorative justice.

Judah Oudshoorn addresses the context of youth offending by examining both individual trauma-including its emotional, cognitive, and behavioural effects-and collective trauma. The volume tackles some of the most challenging problems facing juvenile justice in the United States today, especially the ongoing cycles of intergenerational trauma caused by patriarchal violence and the over-incarceration of African American, Latino, and Native American youth.

The author deftly demonstrates how a trauma-informed approach to juvenile justice can work toward preventing crime and healing offenders, victims, and communities. Featuring a foreword written by Howard Zehr, case stories from the author's own work with victims and offenders, questions for reflection, glossaries of key terms, and lists of recommended readings, this engaging text is the ideal resource for students in the field of juvenile justice.

Author: Judah Oudshoorn
Publisher: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc.
Published: 09/01/2016
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.13lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.67d
ISBN: 9781551309484

About the Author
Oudshoorn, Judah: - Judah Oudshoorn is a Professor of Community and Criminal Justice at Conestoga College. He is also a Restorative Justice Mediator with the Correctional Service of Canada, a Sessional Instructor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo, an Editorial Board Member of the Internet Journal of Restorative Justice, and the Editor for restorative justice titles in the Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding series. Professor Oudshoorn has worked in diverse capacities with youth in Toronto and with First Nations people on issues related to residential schools; he is also widely involved in community services that work with men, particularly fathers, on issues of abuse.

This title is not returnable