State Legislatures William T. Pound, Executive Director.

This report is the

information on key policy issues in juvenile justice today.

For Judges and Juvenile Justice Program Administrators

Detention: a poor choice for juveniles brings about a heightened

sense of trauma and acute feelings of depression, anxiety and the
possibility of suicidal behavior. Detention can interrupt
therapeutic services and medication for juveniles.
Kids In Juvenile Detention Face Risk Of Violent
Death
The researchers interviewed 1,829 people, ages 10 to 18. The young people who were detained in
Juvenile Detention Centers. The researchers continued to follow up with them. By 2011, 111 of
them died, and more than 90 percent of them were killed with guns.

TRAUMA THAT COMES FROM ASSAULTES,

University of Washington, a professor J.D. Hawkins, We don't think they belong in the juvenile
justice system." Because once children enter that system, he says, research demonstrates they
have a very hard time getting out, and often move on to adult jails and prisons. It's important for
everyone to recognize that the trauma that comes from assaulted, boys and girls,
experience the trauma very differently from other kinds of exposure. who experience violence ...
also have a different kind of trauma. Each one requires a specific type of treatment. ... We are
[at] the beginning of this era of understanding the impact of exposure to violence and the kinds
of treatment that are needed. U.S. Justice Department along with the Education Department,
the
U.S. Justice Department is working hard to stop what experts describe as a "school-to-prison
pipeline."We believe firmly that children should be kept in school and out of courts

He points out that the idea that children are different from adults and that there's a need to
understand their brain development if they have brushes with the law has won support from the U.S.
Supreme Court in several recent decisions.

Community intervention programs have also been shown to help catch at-risk youths before they end
up in the juvenile detention system, or after they get out. "There are so many things that can be done.
There are effective strategies for preventing violence and crime, to implement a series of
interventions designed to empower local youth.

Suette, got her psychiatric counseling, convinced a judge to keep her out of the justice system, put an
ankle-bracelet monitor on her, and got her back on track. Too many other young girls, he says, need
the same kind of intervention.
"We're not the judge and we don't tell the youth where they go and what they do," he says. "We only
recommend and enforce the orders of the court ... and we have a mandate to report those violations
to the court."

These survival threats and painful emotional (and often also physical) injuries
are a part of daily life and second nature for too many youth who become
involved with law and juvenile justice. Traumatic experiences typically do not
result in long-term impairment for most individuals. It is normal to
experience such events across the lifespan; often, individuals, families, and
communities respond to them with resilience. This chapter explores several
main elements that influence why people respond differently to trauma.
Using the social-ecological model outlined in Part 1, Chapter 1, this chapter
explores some of the contextual and systemic dynamics that influence
individual and community perceptions of trauma and its impact. The three
main foci are: types of trauma, objective and subjective characteristics of
trauma, and individual and sociocultural features that serve as risk or
protective factors.
As Elizabeths story illustrates, youth who come to the attention of law enforcement
and become involved in the juvenile justice system are often experiencing the after-
effects of years of exposure to complex interpersonal trauma. These youth have
faced repeated threats to their lives or the lives of people closest to them. Losing
key people in their lives, and experiencing betrayals of trust and abandonment from
caregivers, compound the violations of the basic social contract that every youth
should have an equal opportunity to have a successful life as a valued member of
society.
Often youth survive complex trauma and have become involved in the juvenile
justice system appear defiant, unmotivated, and incorrigible as a result of
attempting to deny and conceal distress, disillusionment, and self-blame through a
faade of indifference or aggression. In order to gain a sense of personal control,
relief from distress, social inclusion, and self-esteem, they may turn to self-
medication, avoidance and isolation, or choose peer relationships based on
detachment from or rejection of mainstream values, norms, and cultural practices
Although complex trauma leads youth to be suspicious or even defiant toward
adults who offer help, these youth are very resilient and can be reached by adults
who are willing to support them patiently not by endorsing actions that are illegal,
dangerous, or harmful, but by aligning with these youths core goals, values, and
personal strengths, and offering guidance that empowers rather than judges them.
Hammond is a program principal in NCSLs Criminal Justice Program. She is
the lead staff person on NCSLs Informing Juvenile Justice Policy Project with
the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation. She is the author of
several publications related to juvenile justice and victims issues and is also
a contributor to NCSLs State Legislatures Magazine.
A new effort, Models for Change, seeks to accelerate system-wide change for
successful reform in juvenile justice systems . For more information or to sign up for
MacArthurs monthly electronic newsletter, visit www.macfound.org.
The MacArthur Foundation supports a Research Network on Adolescent
Development and Juvenile Justice.The network is building a foundation of sound
science and legal scholarship to help inform the next generation of reform of
juvenile justice systems. at www.adjj.org.