Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:18:59.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How Complex Developmental Trauma, Residential Out-of-Home Care and Contact with the Justice System Intersect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2017

Jenna Bollinger ,
Stephanie Scott-Smith  and
Philip Mendes
Jenna Bollinger
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Monash University, PhD Candidate
Stephanie Scott-Smith
Affiliation:
Personality and Behaviour Disorder Services, Corrective Services NSW
Philip Mendes*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Monash University, Melbourne
*
address for correspondence:Associate Professor Philip Mendes, Department of Social Work, Monash University. E-mail: philip.mendes@monash.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Complex developmental trauma impacts on neurobiological development through the creation of a frightening and unpredictable environment in which the brain develops. This early experience results in an under-developed limbic system and pre-frontal cortex. For some children and young people, their experiences of early trauma lead them into the residential Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) system. Neurodevelopmental delays that occur as a result of early trauma and abuse often become particularly pronounced during adolescence, including limited impulse control, poor emotional regulation and attachment impairments. These same delays contribute to offending behaviour and subsequent contact with the justice system. Complex developmental trauma has serious repercussions both for the individual and the society in which he or she lives. These repercussions may take the form of offending behaviour and contact with the justice system, drug and alcohol abuse, and continuing cycles of abuse and violence within families or victimisation.

Keywords

traumaout-of-home carecriminal justice systemattachmentbrain developmentresidential care
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , June 2017 , pp. 108 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, F., & Hansen, P. (2005). A dream come true- no more residential care: A corrective note. International Journal of Social Welfare, 14, 195–199.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2016). Child Protection Australia 2014–15. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2015). Children in Care. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/children-care.Google Scholar
Barber, J. G., & Delfabbro, P. H. (2003). Placement stability and the psychosocial well-beng of children in foster care. Research on Social Work Practice, 13 (4), 415–431.Google Scholar
Bromfield, L., & Osborn, A. (2008). Australian research investigating residential and specialised models of care: A systematic review. Developing Practice, 20, 23–32.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, D. A., & Mordock, J. B. (2005). Lessons learned from “fawns in gorilla suits”. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 22 (4), 33–47.Google Scholar
De Bellis, M. D. (2002). Developmental traumatology: A contributory mechanism for alcohol and substance use disorders. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 27, 155–170.Google Scholar
De Wit, H. (2008). Impulsivity as a determinant and consequence of drug use: A review of underlying processes. Addiction Biology, 14 (1), 22–31.Google ScholarPubMed
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., . . . Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study). American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14 (4), 245–258.Google Scholar
Hemphill, S. A., Catalano, R. F., & Toumbourou, J. W. (2005). Predictors of violence, antisocial behaviour and relational aggression in Australian adolescents: A longitudinal study. Canberra, Australia: Criminology Research Council. Retrieved from http://www.criminologyresearchcouncil.lgov.au/reports/200304-26.pdf.Google Scholar
Indig, D., Vecchiato, C., Haysom, L., Beilby, R., Carter, J., Champion, U., . . . Whitton, G. (2011). 2009 NSW young people in custody health survey: Full report. Sydney: Justice Health and Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Kenny, D. T., & Nelson, P. K. (2008). Young offenders on community orders: Health, welfare and criminogenic needs. Justice Health NSW. Retrieved from http://www.justicehealth.nsw.gov.au/publications/ch1-3.pdf.Google Scholar
Malvaso, C. G., & Delfabbro, P. (2015). Offending behaviour among young people with complex needs in the Australian out of home care system. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 35–61.Google Scholar
Mendes, P., Baidawi, S., & Snow, P. C. (2014). Good practice in reducing the over-representation of care leavers in the youth justice system. Leaving Care and Youth Justice – Phase Three Report. Melbourne: Monash University.Google Scholar
Mendes, P., Johnson, G., & Moslehuddin, B. (2011). Young people leaving state out-of-home care: Australian policy and practice. Victoria: Australian Scholarly Publishing.Google Scholar
Perry, B. D. (2009). Examining child maltreatment through a neurodevelopmental lens: Clinical applications of the neurosequential model of therapies. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14, 240–255.Google Scholar
Perry, B. D., Pollard, R. A., Blakeley, T. L., Baker, W. L., & Vigilante, D. (1995). Childhood trauma. The neurobiology of adaptation, and ‘use-dependent’ development of the brain: How states become traits. Infant Mental Health Journal, 16 (4), 271–291.Google Scholar
Perry, B. D., & Szalavitz, M. (2006). The boy who was raised as a dog. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Ringland, C., Weatherburn, D., & Poynton, S. (2015). Can child protection data improve the prediction of re-offending in young persons?. Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice, 188. Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.Google Scholar
Schore, A. N. (2001). The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22 (2–1), 201–269.Google Scholar
Shader, M. (2003). Risk factors for delinquency: An overview. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/jjjournal_2003_2/index.html.Google Scholar
Teicher, M. H., Andersen, S. L., Polcari, A., Anderson, C. M., Navalta, C. P., & Kim, D. M. (2003). Neurobiological consequences of early stress and childhood maltreatment. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 27, 33–44.Google Scholar
Teicher, M. (2016). Childhood maltreatment: Sensitive exposure periods and the importance of type and timing of abuse. Child Trauma Conference. Melbourne, Australia 6–10 June, 2016.Google Scholar
Van der Kolk, B. (2009). Developmental trauma disorder: Towards a rational diagnosis for chronically traumatised children. Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 58 (8), 572–586.Google Scholar
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score. New York: Viking Penguin.Google Scholar
Widom, C. S., & Maxfield, M. G. (1996). A prospective examination of risk for violence among abused and neglected children. Annals New York Academy of Science, 794, 224–237.Google Scholar
Ziegler, D. L. (2009). Impacting the brain of the traumatized child. Woodbury Reports, 180. Retrieved from http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2009/pdf/180-August.pdf .Google Scholar
Ziegler, D. L. (2011). Traumatic experience and the brain. Arizona: Acacia Publishing.Google Scholar