Using Horticulture as Trauma-Informed Care in a Juvenile Justice Facility

• In Event: Reducing Crime and Delinquency: Centering Education, Mental Health, and Corrections in Prevention and Intervention Strategies

Abstract

The literature on the causes and consequences of trauma—and childhood trauma in particular—is abundant, but fewer studies have examined the role trauma plays in system-involved juveniles and adults. Horticultural activities are considered a "trauma coping pathway" (Bonazzi & Febles, 2022), thus often utilized as a method of trauma-informed care. This study focuses on the use of a horticultural therapy garden in a Juvenile Detention Home in Virginia. This study utilizes both secondary and qualitative data of youth and staff members at the facility. Findings support broader arguments as to why therapeutic and trauma-informed methods of care should be used in juvenile justice facilities everywhere.

Author

• Lindsay Semprevivo, Radford University