RT Article
T1 Impact of Growth Mindset-Enhanced Trauma Education on Criminal Legal Professionals’ Attitudes and Perceptions
JF Criminal justice and behavior
VO 50
IS 4
SP 578
OP 599
A1 Mckinsey, Eva
A2 Desmarais, Sarah L.
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1839407700
AB Addressing mass incarceration in the United States will require criminal legal professionals to shift away from carceral punishment and toward alternative approaches to justice. Education on the physiological, social, and behavioral impacts of traumatic events (i.e., trauma education), especially when enhanced with messaging about the malleability of behavior (i.e., growth mindset intervention), may help promote this shift. We assessed the impact of trauma education alone and enhanced with a growth mindset intervention on 344 U.S.-based criminal legal professionals’ attitudes about the criminal legal system and perceptions of trauma-informed judicial practice, and assessed whether profession type moderated intervention impact. Compared with trauma education alone, mindset-enhanced trauma education led to increased perceived appropriateness of considering trauma in judicial decision-making (main effect) and greater support of alternative sentencing for nonviolent crimes among lawyers and judges (moderation effect). Although effects were small, findings support the enhancement of trauma education with growth mindset interventions.
K1 alternative sentencing
K1 Perceptions
K1 Attitudes
K1 growth mindsets
K1 criminal legal system
K1 trauma education
DO 10.1177/00938548221143529