Trauma, Abuse, Substance Use and Carceral Systems

I will be discussing the effect that childhood trauma has on children in the justice system.

The purpose of this research is to provide a descriptive, quantitative study of the families involved with Hamilton County Job and Family Services. This is an analysis of 10 short-term and 10 long-term cases within the system of SACWIS in relation to generational cycles. Throughout the research process, the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment is monitored in an attempt to identify the patterns of generational trauma. The families involved were selected from a supervisor's list of 60 cases. The 20 (10 short-term and 10 long-term) cases were hand-picked based on history or lack thereof, the number of substantiated calls, and efforts made throughout the case plan. The families selected are made up of many characteristics including age, support system strength, race, number of children, marital and economic status, type of maltreatment, etc.

The study of LGBT+ individuals and how there is a higher usage in this group for substance abuse made me curious on if there is an issue of getting help with recovery. With the city of Cincinnati and my internship at the Public Defender's office, I wanted to see if treatment issues were happening in our backyard.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at an increased risk to develop further psychological disorders in comparison to their peers. A child with an intellectual or developmental disability is 3 times as likely to develop a psychological disorder after experiencing traumatic events compared to children that do not share similar experiences. These disorders can consist of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, Disruptive behavior and dissocial disorders, Neurodevelopmental disorders and several more listed within The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). These disorders can cause further barriers for development and can last permanently. Treatment to improve outcomes for these youth currently consists of  psychotherapy, exposure therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy. The process to aid these individuals can become very long and may be ineffective for some. This results in further stress for the youth as they develop towards adulthood and can cause stress on others in their social environment.

Treatment is a serious issue for homeless women because of the barriers that prevent them from accessing these treatments. These barriers include transportation, lack of availability in programs, and the mental health issues that coexist with substance use. This problem is all across the country. According to the article, "the homeless population is disproportionately affected by medical, psychiatric, and substance-use problems" (Collins et al., 24). This makes substance use and mental health a coexisting problem with one another. According to the article, "In the USA in 1963 women represented 3% of the homeless population and by 2005 they represented 32% (Arangua, Andersen, & Gelberg, 2005)" (Phipps et al., 2).

The big-picture goal of my research is the impact of felonies on individuals. I want to interview different individuals from my internship program to understand what they need from us as a society. This will help us create resources that social workers might have not thought about or shine a light on ones that aren't talked about enough. This project could help bridge a gap that we have between society and people who are/ have been incarcerated.

The outcome of the work will help to further have a better understand of holistic care and how it benefits children who have experienced trauma.

This paper examines the effects that the COVID-19 Pandemic has had on the type of maltreatment that is inflicted on children. This paper underlines the different subgroups that identify as maltreatment and the difference in the number of cases that were reported. The goal of this research is to present a new perspective on how Social Workers can be of better service to families when working in child welfare. Data was collected for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, and examined seven different maltreatment types: Emotional Maltreatment/Mental Injury, Medical Neglect, Neglect, Physical Abuse, and Sexual Abuse. Although fewer cases were reported in 2020 and 2021 vs. 2019, there was a higher number of neglect and emotional maltreatment cases (2020 & 2021), vs. physical abuse cases (2019). There is a high indication that with the effects of the pandemic, there is more risk for emotional abuse than physical abuse.

The goal of this study was to understand, in families with verbal and physical abuse, how do the affects of the abuse manifest in the lives of children? The study aimed to understand the manifestations of verbal and physical abuse in the lives of children. If abuse is presented in a family structure or happening directly to a child, the abuse will manifest itself in a number of negative ways. The outcome of this work can help provide new insight and understanding as to why children may present with these manifestations. The results of this study can help abused children and those caring for these children, further understand why trauma presents itself in a certain way. This study can be of value to those working with child abuse victims/ survivors as well as the world of childcare and healthcare.

The purpose of this study is to look at the long-term effects of Childhood Trauma on social, emotional, and physical development. It is also intended to look at the efficacy of Trauma Informed Care for these children in a school setting. Trauma can have life-long repercussions and it can effect a person in every aspect of their life, Trauma informed care takes the holistic approach to care for individuals with trauma and works to provide support and in every area for healing and works to avoid the re-traumatization of an individual. The sample of this study comes from the connection group at Orion Academy. This connection group is run by the staff from Back2Back Cincinnati and focuses on providing holistic care for children who are showing signs of trauma at Orion Academy.

A large proportion of individuals on community supervision (probation and parole) have a history of or are currently experiencing mental illness and/or trauma.  This project seeks to find out how mental illness and trauma relate to technical violations of community supervision. Specifically, if trauma alone or in combination with mental illness increases risk for violations and if there are differences in the types of violations.  A secondary data analysis was conducted on data from an ongoing mixed methods study that collected responses from adults (18+) on community supervision, using semi structured interviews. The results on this sample indicate that both mental illness and trauma may each play a role in technical violations. Trauma, although not as strongly related to the likelihood of community supervision violations as mental illness, does seem to play a role in the difference of violations.  Knowing this information can help officers better tailor their supervision approach to help prevent violations and provide a deeper engagement with the criminal justice system.

The aim of this study is to get the perspectives of providers on how parental substance abuse affects childhood trauma. The purpose of this study is to bring awareness and gather knowledge about childhood trauma, parental substance use, and how to prevent these issues from reoccurring. Counselors and therapists were interviewed at Crossroads Center. This is qualitative descriptive study.