“Man, the bravest animal and most prone to suffer, does not deny suffering as such: he wills it, he even seeks it out, provided he is shown a meaning for it, a purpose of suffering.” -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche Juvenile justice reform is a complex and contentious topic. Despite the increased attention and focus throughout the years of looking for more effective ways of dealing with youthful offenders, America is still one of the most punitive countries regarding juvenile crime – averaging nearly 60,000 incarcerated youth daily. In recent years, there has been a trend toward reforming the juvenile justice system to prioritize rehabilitation over exclusion and punishment, with a preference for restorative approaches and strategies instead of traditional exclusionary and punitive responses. However, continued high incarceration rates combined with almost 90 percent recidivism rates suggest these approaches are ineffective and lack the necessary elements to address the underlying causes of juvenile crime or help position our youth for successful reentry or participation in society. As we learn more about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the devastating long-term effects on a child’s development, we recognize a connection between ACEs, toxic stress, and juvenile crime. ACEs refer to adverse or traumatic events that occur during childhood, such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. These experiences can pose significant risks to children’s physical and mental health. Toxic stress refers to the chronic exposure to the body’s stress response systems reacting to severe and prolonged adversity, such as child abuse or neglect. Developmental changes in the body and brain due to toxic stress can increase the risk of physical and mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, and lead to increased negative behaviors and criminal activity. This paper argues that a trauma-informed approach to reform juvenile justice is needed to help survivors of ACEs and toxic stress repurpose their adversity into a tool of opportunity and empowerment. This trauma-informed approach will, in turn, help trauma survivors find purpose in life, alter their perspective of their world, and perform actions and behaviors in service of their goals. Only by including an individualized trauma-informed approach will we finally realize collective juvenile justice reform.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events experienced during childhood that have negative effects starting as a child and extending into adulthood. The presence of multiple ACEs increases negative mental, physical, and behavioral health outcomes. Children of parents who have experienced ACEs are at a higher risk of experiencing ACEs themselves, creating an intergenerational cycle of trauma between parents and their children. Evidence suggests that parenting education can reduce the impact of ACEs and potentially eliminate poor health outcomes. The literature revealed that parenting education was found to increase parenting competency, which will in turn reduce the impact of ACEs on children.

The purpose of this evidence-based project is to evaluate parenting competency and parenting self-efficacy after implementing six parenting workshops. The workshop topics consist of: (a) stress management, (b) understanding trauma, (c) positive parenting, (d) positive discipline, (e) play, and (f) learning development and support. The workshops were delivered at a community residential facility for women seeking recovery from abuse, incarceration, chemical dependency and other life-controlling problems. Participants included 10 female residents.

Demographics, ACE scores, pre and post Parenting Sense of Competency Scale, and a post intervention satisfaction questionnaire and discussion were used to collect data from the participants. Mothers’ ACE scores ranged from 2-9. The parenting self-efficacy score increased in the subgroup that attended all six workshops. All of the mothers agreed that the workshops would help with parenting their children. The findings suggest that parenting education increases parenting knowledge and self-efficacy, and may reduce the impact of ACEs on children.