Impact of trauma education and growth mindset messaging on public attitudes about the criminal legal system.

Objectives: Identifying ways to shift public attitudes toward support for alternative approaches to criminalized behavior is necessary to address mass incarceration. We test whether education on the impacts of traumatic events may be one strategy to increase such support. Drawing from mindset theory, we also test whether effects can be amplified through incorporation of growth mindset messaging. Methods: Two experimental studies assessed the impact of trauma education and growth mindset-enhanced trauma education on public attitudes. Results: In Study 1, participants in both trauma education conditions exhibited greater support for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent crimes compared to the control condition. In Study 2, participants in the mindset-enhanced trauma education condition exhibited greater support for alternative sentencing for violent crimes compared to those in the other two conditions. Conclusions: Mindset-enhanced trauma education has potential to shift public attitudes toward support for alternative sentencing, though further research is needed to substantiate effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]