Ms Sarah Stevenson1, Dr Carey Marr1, Dr Amanuel Kidane Hagos1, Professor Tony Butler1, Professor Kimberlie Dean1
1University Of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Sarah is an endorsed clinical psychologist and researcher focussing on youth with complex mental health and forensic presentations. Sarah specialises in psychological forensic risk assessments for young people in the violent extremism space. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of New South Wales, focussing on the intersection of vulnerability and risk for forensic youth. Sarah has developed and published treatment manuals to support clinicians working with young people with complex mental health presentations. She contributes to clinical research translation, program development, and capacity building frontline staff in education, health and related settings.
Childhood maltreatment and abuse are widely recognised as significant risk factors contributing to future offending behaviour, with growing evidence linking early trauma to persistent contact with the criminal justice system. Despite this, there remains a lack of clarity regarding how such experiences are acknowledged and addressed within judicial sentencing practices in relation to young people. This study explores the application of trauma-informed principles in sentencing decisions involving young offenders in New South Wales. Employing a qualitative content analysis of 122 sentencing remarks (2000 – 2024), the research examines the extent to which judges realise the presence of childhood maltreatment, recognise its impact on young people, respond through trauma-informed judicial practices, and seek to resist further traumatisation during the sentencing process. The analysis indicates growing judicial awareness of trauma in young defendants’ lives (54.3%); however, the application of trauma-informed principles remains inconsistent. Links between early maltreatment and offending are rarely made explicit (44.2%), and trauma informed procedural responses (53.5%) are not yet standardised. These findings highlight the need for more consistent and intentional integration of trauma-informed approaches in youth sentencing to reflect the developmental impacts of childhood maltreatment and support rehabilitation.