What Criminal Justice can learn from our Wounded Warriors

What we can learn about criminal justice from our wounded warriors

“One of the least obvious disabilities is trauma. Justice for Vets cites research that one in five veterans from our most recent conflicts have a mental health disorder or cognitive impairment, including post-traumatic stress disorder. One in six has a drug or alcohol issue. As a result of our wars, we’ve learned a lot about psychological trauma. We know it has a range of destructive symptoms, and many believe that it has played a major role in the disproportionate number of veterans in the criminal justice system. Some who have encountered the criminal justice system are now being treated in Veterans Courts. With respect to trauma, Veterans Courts are a relatively recent innovation, but early outcomes and reviews from veterans have been largely favorable. Veterans Courts are one of many specialized courts that focus on underlying disorders that lead to criminal offending. Crime has declined rapidly in the US over the past generation, and in 2013 violent crime had declined more than 50 percent from 1991. The idea of introducing therapeutic processes into criminal case processing has been an important part of systems reform, and it seems to be working…”