Understanding opportunities to support trauma-informed care in prisons

On a project funded by Correctional Service Canada, Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian et al. conducted a structured review and interviewed experts to understand and describe Opportunities to Support Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) in Canadian Federal Prisons. TIC includes four Rs: realization of trauma’s effects, recognition of signs of trauma, response to trauma, and resistance to re-traumatization, as well as six key values (diagrammed below). It is a system-level approach that goes beyond trauma-specific care, and instead aims to improve practice and policy for the entire population through organizational culture shifts.

Implementing TIC in a prison environment is uniquely challenging given a population with histories of trauma, the potential for re-traumatization in the system, and common under-resourcing which may cause staff burnout. Despite this, prisons can become more trauma-informed. The conducted review identifies actions at the systemic and individual levels that prisons can undertake. It frames opportunities using the patient medical home model and includes a focus on sex and gender, as well as race and Indigenous identity for TIC in prisons. For more information, please email Jessica Gaber, Research Coordinator, at jgaber@mcmaster.ca.