Trauma-informed sentencing in South Australian courts : Katherine J. McLachlan how South Australian sentencing judges use information about defendants’ child sexual abuse victimization and subsequent trauma
By: McLachlan, Katherine J
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Material type: 
ArticleSeries: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.Publisher: Taylor & Francis, 2023Subject(s): ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES | ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILD ABUSE | CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE | CRIMINAL JUSTICE | OFFENDERS | SENTENCING | TRAUMA | INTERNATIONAL | AUSTRALIA | SOUTH AUSTRALIAOnline resources: DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2023.2219674
In:
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 2023, First published online, 30 May 2023Summary: This article explores how South Australian judges use information about child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization history and its potentially traumatic impact, when sentencing adult defendants. Past research indicates that sentencing outcomes may significantly improve if judicial officers are “trauma-informed.” “Trauma” is the distressing impact of adversity on an individual’s social and emotional well-being. Drawing from a sample of 33 sentencing remarks within which judicial officers have identified defendants with histories of CSA, this article applies a trauma-informed practice framework to explore the degree to which the sentencing of these defendants may be trauma-informed. Finally, the paper discusses potential initiatives to better achieve community safety when sentencing people with trauma from CSA. The findings are highly transferable, given the parallels in the sentencing calculus across countries that have a Westminster system of law. (Author's abstract). Record #8241
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 2023, First published online, 30 May 2023
This article explores how South Australian judges use information about child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization history and its potentially traumatic impact, when sentencing adult defendants. Past research indicates that sentencing outcomes may significantly improve if judicial officers are “trauma-informed.” “Trauma” is the distressing impact of adversity on an individual’s social and emotional well-being. Drawing from a sample of 33 sentencing remarks within which judicial officers have identified defendants with histories of CSA, this article applies a trauma-informed practice framework to explore the degree to which the sentencing of these defendants may be trauma-informed. Finally, the paper discusses potential initiatives to better achieve community safety when sentencing people with trauma from CSA. The findings are highly transferable, given the parallels in the sentencing calculus across countries that have a Westminster system of law. (Author's abstract). Record #8241
