Gender, Trauma, and the Use of Trauma, Diversity and Inclusivity Principles During Probation and Parole Supervision

Martinson (1974) argued that Nothing Works in the rehabilitation of justice impacted individuals. In response, Andrews and Kiesling (1980) developed a set of core correctional practices (CCPs) that could be used by probation and parole officers to enhance correctional outcomes for justice impacted individuals. More recently, trauma responsive approaches have emerged as another hypothesized effective strategy for dealing with justice impacted individuals who experience high levels of trauma (Miller & Najavits, 2012). This study investigates the nature and prevalence of probable traumatic experiences among justice impacted individuals on probation with a focus on gender differences (N ≈ 329). The study also investigates if probation and parole officers who were recently trained in a model of community supervision that blends trauma responsiveness with core correctional practices—the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Made-in-Ontario Core Correctional Practices (CCP) Model of Community Supervision- are more likely to apply trauma, diversity and inclusivity (TDI) principles in their interactions with clients after the training. The study uses client case notes prepared by probation and parole officers. Results showed that despite women reporting significantly higher probable trauma, trauma-informed approaches were applied similarly across gender groups. In addition, TDI implementation was consistent regardless of trauma status in the context of CCP. This highlights the need for more targeted trauma-informed approaches based on individual needs rather than a generalized application of trauma-informed intervention. The opinions and views expressed in this report reflect those of the author and not the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. Sohaila Abdelhadi contributed intellectually to the research, prepared the poster from their thesis work, and managed its submission. All authors contributed to data collection and coding.