Youth in Conflict with the Law: Somatic Trauma Informed-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Youth in Conflict with the Law: Somatic Trauma Informed-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
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Issue Date
2023-05
Authors
Bramley, Rebecca
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to examine the mental health needs of youth offenders and the importance of the youth justice system to move forward a trauma-informed approach in working with these vulnerable youth. This paper provides a brief historical analysis of the youth justice policies within Canada since its inception in the early 1900's. The current youth justice act was enacted in 2003, as a measure to curb Canada's high youth incarceration rates in Western countries. Within the act, the use of diversion mechanisms and extrajudicial measures will be discussed and discuss the challenges of the current program in taking into consideration the mental health needs of youth offenders. Considering the effects trauma has on the body, it is imperative that professionals working with youth offenders adopt a trauma-informed framework, as there is evidence suggesting that youth involved in the criminal justice system have a history of trauma. This would be beneficial because if specific behaviours can be considered trauma-related responses as opposed to criminogenic factors, then community-based trauma-informed interventions could be utilized when diverting youths away from the justice system, including counselling. A recommendation of somatic trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy will be explored and needs to be considered as the psychotherapeutic modality in working with youth offenders who suffer from trauma symptoms.
Description
Keywords
trauma-informed approach , youth criminal justice system , mental health , community-based interventions , somatic trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States , openAccess