{"id":578,"date":"2015-11-03T16:37:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T16:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubaltlawcfcc.wordpress.com\/?p=578"},"modified":"2020-09-28T15:30:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T15:30:48","slug":"trauma-informed-judicial-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/2015\/11\/03\/trauma-informed-judicial-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Trauma-Informed Judicial Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Angela Snyder, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016<\/strong>
\nOn June 1, 2015, the University of Baltimore School of Law\u2019s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) and the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts\u2019 Department of Family Administration convened Maryland\u2019s Family Justice System: A Symposium. The keynote speaker at the event was Mr. Frank Kros, President of The Upside Down Organization and Executive Vice President of The Children\u2019s Guild. Mr. Kros\u2019s presentation centered on the issue of childhood trauma. He explained how chronic trauma influences children throughout their lifetime, how it changes the chemical makeup of the brain, and how courts should operate in order to better serve children who have experienced trauma.<\/p>\n

According to Mr. Kros, the brain\u2019s main function is survival, and the amygdala is the chief survival organ. The amygdala screens every piece of sensory information that enters the brain for potential physical or emotional threats. The amygdala controls the stress response system, which has three stages:<\/p>\n

1. Alert: The amygdala is alerted of a potential threat. If there is no actual threat, the cycle stops here.
\n2. Stress Response: If there is a threat, the brain produces cortisol until the amygdala takes action to stop the threat.
\n3. Distress: If the threat cannot be stopped, the brain produces a double dose of cortisol and adrenaline to mandate some type of action to deal with the stress.<\/p>\n

Excess cortisol can seep over to other areas in the brain, and it is toxic to the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the primary learning organ where our brains make memories. Cortisol kills cells in the hippocampus, which blocks memory and learning and compromises the immune function. Excess cortisol is linked to brain damage, poor social and verbal skills, memory impairment, aggression, impulsiveness, anxiety, and dissociation. Until cortisol is reduced to near normal ranges, damage to brain development is likely to continue. In cases of chronic, extreme stress, cortisol remains high, and the brain does not develop properly.<\/p>\n

As traumatic stress is common among many court-involved children and youth, it is important that judges and court personnel are mindful not to add to the trauma that children have experienced. It is also important that they respond appropriately to trauma-impacted children and understand that certain behaviors that we may perceive as disrespectful or defiant may be better understood in the context of traumatic stress disorders. Kros suggests ways to improve the court experience:<\/p>\n

1. Require a trauma screen and\/or assessment on each child involved in the court
\n2. Learn about trauma and its impact on the developing brain
\n3. Transform the courtroom into a place where children feel invited, welcomed, educated, and heard<\/p>\n

Do you think childhood trauma is an important factor for courts to consider when working with children and youth? If so, how do you think courts can incorporate trauma-informed judicial practices into their proceedings? To read the original blog on the symposium see: https:\/\/ubaltlawcfcc.wordpress.com\/2015\/07\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Angela Snyder, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 On June 1, 2015, the University of Baltimore School of Law\u2019s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) and the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts\u2019 Department of Family Administration convened Maryland\u2019s Family Justice System: A Symposium. The keynote speaker at the event…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4169,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1062,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions\/1062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}