The effects of traumatic experiences on academic relationships and expectations in justice-involved children

Positive school experiences are an important predictor of long-term health and well-being. Developing positive relationships with school personnel and positive academic expectations set the foundation for success. Positive relationships and expectations can be a powerful protective factor or intervention to redirect troubled children toward a more positive path. Unfortunately, children who experience trauma are more prone to academic underachievement and negative school experiences. This link is especially evident and troubling for children-also called justice-involved children (JIC)-in the juvenile justice system. JIC are exposed to more traumatic experiences and have a higher prevalence of academic failure than other children. Despite evidence showing that (1) trauma is harmful to achievement in the general population, (2) JIC have a higher prevalence of trauma, and (3) JIC have a higher prevalence of academic underachievement and failure, only a few studies have examined traumatic experiences and achievement in JIC. The Childhood Trauma Model (CTM) submits that childhood trauma is central to understanding adolescent outcomes. CTM hypothesizes that (H-1) JIC who experience trauma will have more academic risk factors than those who do not, and (H-2) JIC who experience multiple types of trauma will have higher academic risks than those who experience a single type of trauma. The current study tests (1) whether 10 different types of traumatic experiences are individually associated with increased risks for fewer positive adult relationships and lower expectations of graduating from high school among JIC, and (2) whether experiencing multiple types of trauma has a larger impact than experiencing a single type of trauma.