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High rates of trauma among court-involved youth have led to efforts to incorporate trauma-informed practices (TIPs) in courts. Despite these efforts, little is known about the degree to which TIPs have been adopted. We observed 201 juvenile court hearings overseen by 16 judges in a Southeastern state in the United States, examining the presence of over 60 TIPs related to the environment, policies/activities, and judge behaviour. Descriptive analyses revealed vast gaps in the implementation of certain TIPs, such as those related to decision-making and acknowledgment of contextual factors contributing to youths’ court involvement. We additionally conducted multilevel modelling to examine whether judges’ engagement with TIPs depended on case-, judge-, and youth-related factors. We found judges generally implemented TIPs equitably across examined factors but between-judge variability in three practice categories suggests youths’ court experiences may depend on the judge to whom they are assigned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Understanding judges' views is crucial to the successful adoption of a trauma-informed (TI) approach in the U.S. court system, yet little is known on this topic. We explored judges' attitudes of and experiences with TI practice to help fill this gap., Method: We surveyed 91 North Carolina district court judges, assessing their attitudes related to TI practice, use of trauma-informed practices (TIPs), previous trauma education, and support for different justice goals. We conducted independent-samples t tests and Poisson regression analyses to compare attitudes, use of TIPs, and education experiences between judges working in juvenile justice and those not in juvenile justice; descriptive statistics to examine rates of engagement with different TIPs; and bivariate correlation analyses to assess associations between TI practice outcomes and justice goals., Results: Analyses revealed more favorable attitudes toward a TI approach and greater engagement with trauma education among judges working in juvenile versus adult courts; TIPs with the lowest levels of engagement related to policies and procedures; and strong positive correlations between favorable TI practice attitudes and support for rehabilitation and restoration., Conclusion: Findings highlight areas for growth in the movement to create more TI courts, such as strengthening support for TI practice in the adult criminal system and implementing TIPs related to policies, procedures, and outcomes, not just communication. Findings also support the connection between a TI approach and less punitive justice practices, signaling the potential role that TI judicial practice can play in shifting our legal system toward more transformative forms of justice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).