Fostering a Trauma Informed Mindset in the Criminal Justice System: An Evaluation of the Take Care Delaware Program

Authors' Affiliations

Lauren Ledford, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Mary Jo Oliver-Hedrick, M.S., Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Meredith Jordan, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Chloe Salyer, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Adam Walker, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Andrea D. Clements, PhD, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Location

Culp Center Ballroom

Start Date

4-25-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

4-25-2023 11:00 AM

Poster Number

144

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Psychology

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Andrea Clements

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Psychology

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Fostering a Trauma Informed Mindset in the Criminal Justice System

Lauren Ledford, Mary Jo Oliver M.S., Meredith Jordan, Chloe Salyer, Adam Walker, Andrea D. Clements Ph.D.

The presence of early childhood adversity and trauma is disproportionately high in individuals involved with the criminal justice system compared to the non-criminally involved population. Childhood adversity and trauma is consistently linked to many adverse lifelong outcomes such as increased mortality, increased risk of mental illness, and increased risk of substance use disorder. In order to respond to this increased risk, empathy and community-wide interventions have emerged as effective means of responding and resisting re-traumatization. Community and empathy-based training of law enforcement officials may assist in understanding trauma and combatting its effects as they are often some of the first people to come in contact with individuals experiencing the effects of childhood adversity and trauma.

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) training for police officers in their ability to have knowledge of, believe to be relevant, understand, feel confident implementing, and apply TIC principles. We hypothesized knowledge, relevance, understanding, implementation confidence, and application of TIC would all increase from pre-assessment to post-assessment.

As part of an initiative to increase TIC awareness and implementation, 64 police officers participated in a one-day training that began with a pre-survey and ended with a post-survey. Both surveys contained measures concerning TIC knowledge, relevance, understanding, implementation confidence, and application. The post survey also included an additional measure regarding training quality satisfaction. The sample consisted primarily of White (N = 44), middle-aged males (M = 42.27, SD = 8.588).

There was a significant difference between TIC knowledge t(56) = -4.593, p<.001, d = 1.096, TIC relevance t(56) = -2.488, p = .016, d = .912, TIC understanding t(56) = -8.611, p <.001, d = 2.932, and implementation confidence t(56)= -5.942, p <.001, d = 1.326 from the pre to post assessment. However, there was not a significant difference between TIC application t(56) = -1.826, p = .073, d = .585 from pre to post assessment.

The consistently significant increase in TIC scores indicate that a TIC training is an effective means of improving officer perception of trauma and willingness to implement TIC practices.

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Apr 25th, 9:00 AM Apr 25th, 11:00 AM

Fostering a Trauma Informed Mindset in the Criminal Justice System: An Evaluation of the Take Care Delaware Program

Culp Center Ballroom

Fostering a Trauma Informed Mindset in the Criminal Justice System

Lauren Ledford, Mary Jo Oliver M.S., Meredith Jordan, Chloe Salyer, Adam Walker, Andrea D. Clements Ph.D.

The presence of early childhood adversity and trauma is disproportionately high in individuals involved with the criminal justice system compared to the non-criminally involved population. Childhood adversity and trauma is consistently linked to many adverse lifelong outcomes such as increased mortality, increased risk of mental illness, and increased risk of substance use disorder. In order to respond to this increased risk, empathy and community-wide interventions have emerged as effective means of responding and resisting re-traumatization. Community and empathy-based training of law enforcement officials may assist in understanding trauma and combatting its effects as they are often some of the first people to come in contact with individuals experiencing the effects of childhood adversity and trauma.

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) training for police officers in their ability to have knowledge of, believe to be relevant, understand, feel confident implementing, and apply TIC principles. We hypothesized knowledge, relevance, understanding, implementation confidence, and application of TIC would all increase from pre-assessment to post-assessment.

As part of an initiative to increase TIC awareness and implementation, 64 police officers participated in a one-day training that began with a pre-survey and ended with a post-survey. Both surveys contained measures concerning TIC knowledge, relevance, understanding, implementation confidence, and application. The post survey also included an additional measure regarding training quality satisfaction. The sample consisted primarily of White (N = 44), middle-aged males (M = 42.27, SD = 8.588).

There was a significant difference between TIC knowledge t(56) = -4.593, p<.001, d = 1.096, TIC relevance t(56) = -2.488, p = .016, d = .912, TIC understanding t(56) = -8.611, p <.001, d = 2.932, and implementation confidence t(56)= -5.942, p <.001, d = 1.326 from the pre to post assessment. However, there was not a significant difference between TIC application t(56) = -1.826, p = .073, d = .585 from pre to post assessment.

The consistently significant increase in TIC scores indicate that a TIC training is an effective means of improving officer perception of trauma and willingness to implement TIC practices.