Unmet mental health and criminogenic needs among justice-involved young people: a role for clinicians in the community

Figures & data

Table 1. SHARE trauma-informed care recommendations for justice-involved young people.

Safety	Safety: Engender a sense of trust by using non-confrontational, client-centred engagement strategies.
Hope	Encourage the belief that change is possible through motivational interviewing (Hettema et al., 2004).
Autonomy	Provide meaningful choices that are responsive to the client’s goals.
Respect	Restore a sense dignity and self-worth by adopting a non-shaming attitude towards the client.
Empathy	Explore others’ perspectives and feelings and model empathy for the client, enhancing skills that are often underdeveloped in young people with traumatic upbringings.

Adapted from Levenson and Willis (2019).

Table 2. Risk-need-responsivity model.

Risk	Who should be treated (those most at risk of mental illness and recidivism to receive more intensive intervention). The risk assessment should support client’s interests in terms of improving their management, e.g., minimising situations that are associated with high risk behaviours such as self-harm and aggression. Risk assessments should not be used to block clients from accessing treatments they require.
Need	What to treat (criminogenic needs/mental health needs). What areas in a person’s life should be targeted for intervention to decrease their likelihood of future problem behaviour? Focus where changes in the need are associated with changes in problem behaviour, e.g., antisocial attitudes, antisocial peers, family factors, problems in education, substance abuse etc.
Responsivity	How to treat (respond to the client’s individual needs and characteristics, including mental health needs) What personal strengths or specific individual factors might influence the effectiveness of treatment offered? This might include their strengths, motivations, preferences, personality, age, gender, cultural identifications etc.

Based on (Andrews & Bonta, 2010b).

Hettema, J., Steele, J., & Miller, W. R. (2004). Motivational interviewing. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.143833

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Levenson, J. S. & Willis, G. M. (2019). Implementing trauma-informed care in correctional treatment and supervision. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28(4), 481–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1531959

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Andrews, D. A. & Bonta, J. (2010b). Rehabilitating criminal justice policy and practice. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018362

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Data availability statement

No original data were produced for this article.