Proposing a Population-Specific Intervention Approach to Treat Trauma Among Men During and After Incarceration

A significant treatment gap exists for incarcerated men with lifetime traumatic experiences. A small research base for trauma interventions for incarcerated women is emerging, but incarcerated men have largely been ignored. Men comprise 90% of the incarcerated population and are at the greatest risk to be rearrested for a new crime after release. One of the most overlooked, but highly influential, factors in poor postrelease outcomes of formerly incarcerated men is unaddressed symptoms resulting from lifetime traumatic experiences. Studies of incarcerated men report up to 98% have had at least one lifetime traumatic experience-many have experienced multiple traumas. With nearly 600,000 men releasing from incarceration each year, there is an urgent need to develop targeted interventions for incarcerated men. We aim to advance the field toward gender-specific and incarceration-responsive trauma intervention approaches. We build on existing empirically supported trauma treatment models and propose a phased intervention approach to trauma treatment that is responsive to the unique context of incarceration of men and men's reentry to communities. We offer an intervention approach to guide trauma treatment research and practice innovations. We build into the model key empirically supported treatment ingredients in a way that we propose is most sensitive to the stages of reentry (i.e., release from incarceration back to communities). We conclude with critical next steps needed to advance the practice and research of implementing transitional trauma treatment for incarcerated men during and after incarceration.