The need to address the victimisation of children in care before they become offenders.

Abstract

Young people who come into out of home care in Australia represent a very vulnerable group as evidenced by their over representation in the criminal justice system and mental health statistics. They are disadvantaged just by coming into state care as children entering state care have already experienced maltreatment in its various forms and the literature supports the view that while not all maltreated children are traumatised, many are. It is the aim of this paper to argue that children coming into state care be assessed and treated for developmental trauma and that this will significantly decrease their chances of becoming involved in the criminal justice system in the future. Developmental trauma is here defined as maltreatment, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The effects of child maltreatment will be discussed under the separate headings of; attachment and development, neurobiology, traumatic attachments, social information processing and criminal behaviour as these cumulatively demonstrate how early maltreatment impacts development, and therefore, perception and behaviour, negatively.