Education Initiatives
The Institute provides educational programs to judges and administrators on trauma-informed practices and systems-level change, reaching judges and administrators from Arizona, California, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. We have also lectured nationally as part of the State Department Speaker Series, led large webinars, and created new judges’ orientation programs.
The Institute’s trauma-informed courts curriculum helps judges, court officers, and court administrators understand the nature of trauma, the origin and lasting effects of trauma and toxic stress, intergenerational trauma, the connection between trauma and addiction, approaches to mitigating stress and establishing coping strategies, and other essential knowledge. The course also offers concrete practices judges might adopt in order to better interact with affected parties, particularly juveniles, read and understand trauma assessments, and craft trauma-informed orders.
All trainings include at least two perspectives: the scientific and the judicial. First, we describe the effects of trauma on the brain and body, its connection to court-involvement, and how to help build resilience so that the brain can heal. Second, we offer concrete practices to help address trauma in the courtroom, building specific strategies that judges or administrators can implement to improve courtroom experiences for those with or without trauma. We focus on four types of practices: communication, procedures, courtroom environment, and sentencing. We close by discussing how judges can address their own vicarious trauma, or the kind of mental health effects that certain professionals might experience from exposure to others’ trauma.
Longer trainings may also include perspectives from trauma doctors, sitting judges, attorneys, and those with lived experience of trauma and the legal system, along with opportunities for practice through hypothetical courtroom scenarios. Trainings can also address approaches to system-wide change and administrative approaches to creating more trauma-informed courts.
Email Amelia Thorn at amelia.thorn@law.duke.edu if your court is interested in a training.
Free Educational Materials
The Institute and its partners have developed the following educational materials:
- Trauma & Related Research: Quick Reference Sheet: This one-pager summarizes the state of science on trauma, the brain, and its relationship to criminal activity—as well as how judges can better respond to this reality.
- Trauma-Informed Bench-card: Co-created with the North Carolina Judicial Branch, this bench-card highlights key consideration and practices for engaging with traumatized populations.
- Witness to the System: Insights from Court Observation: As part of a research project exploring trauma-informed judicial practice in juvenile courts, our team observed over 200 hearings. Along the way, we not only gained valuable insights into judicial behaviors but also discovered much about the experience of court observation itself.
To share what we learned, we created Witness to the System—a series of creative graphic notes capturing key takeaways, lessons learned, and memorable quotes from our observers. These products offer practical guidance for two audiences: judges, who may benefit from understanding what it’s like for people in their courtrooms, and future court observers (e.g., researchers, court watchers), who may benefit from hearing how we developed our observation instrument and prepared for and conducted systematic court observations. Together, these graphic notes aim to inform, prepare, and inspire those engaged in this important work.
- Witness to the System: What is it like to experience court?
From insights on the vast range of judge behaviors witnessed in the courtroom to the ways in which team members’ perceptions of the court system shifted as a result of observing, this graphic helps paint a picture of what it is like to sit within a juvenile delinquency courtroom. - Witness to the System: A guide for future court observers
Learn how our research team developed, piloted, and used a court observation instrument to systematically study judge behavior in court, along with various tips for engaging in effective, thoughtful, and reflective court observation. - Witness to the System: Key takeaways from judge observations
Our team observed more than 200 hearings in a Southeastern U.S. state, rating judges on their use of trauma-informed practices. See which areas judges scored highest in—as well as those areas in which judges have the most room for growth (forthcoming). - Judicial Evaluation Form: Judges seeking to “grade themselves” on their own court practices—or ask those in their courtroom for feedback—can use this evaluation form, which highlights 15 key practices to improve courtroom interactions and offers concrete examples of trauma-informed judicial behavior (forthcoming).