The trouble with trauma: Interconnected forms of violence in the lives of repeatedly criminalised men

Anderson, Sarah

Abstract

Focus on the interconnection of interpersonal violence, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma and justice‐involvement has increased interest internationally among policymakers and practitioners working within criminal justice contexts for ‘trauma‐informed’ approaches and interventions which facilitate recovery. This article discusses limitations of employing these concepts to make sense of the lives of criminal‐justice involved people. Drawing on UK‐based research using interviews and collage‐workshops to gather autobiographical narratives of 16 repeatedly‐criminalised men, a case vignette is presented to show the institutional and structural contexts of interpersonal violence, and the critical role of the criminal justice system (CJS) in obscuring and perpetuating violence. This raises doubt about the CJS's capacity to respond to trauma. The contribution of this article is to integrate theoretical conceptualisations of violence and empirical findings to critique the possibility of trauma‐informed practice (TIP) within a criminal justice context.

Citation

Anderson, S. (2025). The trouble with trauma: Interconnected forms of violence in the lives of repeatedly criminalised men. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 64(1), 24-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12578

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 30, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Oct 4, 2024
• Publication Date: 2025-03
• Deposit Date: Jun 20, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2024
• Journal: The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice
• Electronic ISSN: 2059-1101
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 24-43
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12578
• Keywords: trauma‐informed, trauma, repeat offender, violence, narrative criminology, criminal justice system, adverse childhood experiences
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3686209