Profit and Punishment Book Discussion Guide

Compiled by Christie Love

Trauma Training Takeaway: This book is an excellent example of two different forms of trauma. The first one is systemic traumas. Systemic trauma is defined as “contextual features of environments and institutions that give rise to trauma, maintain it, and impact post-traumatic responses-provides a framework for considering the full range of traumatic phenomena.” (1) This book explores the trauma that can be suffered when the criminal justice unfairly targets people in poverty makes their barriers to getting out of poverty even higher.

Poverty is also one of the ten documented and measured Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and is often considered to be a form of complex trauma. Researchers have found, “Living in poverty can be a traumatic experience. The effects of trauma can contribute to chronic poverty. Living in poverty increases the risk of traumatic experiences. Statistics prove that children living in poor neighborhoods are more likely to suffer traumatic incidents, like witnessing or being the victims of violence, parental neglect or abuse. Low-income young adults are more likely to have exposure to trauma, which increases risk for mental health problems. Poverty trauma can be categorized as Chronic Trauma as poverty is usually a repeated and prolonged experience. Poverty is rarely a single or one-off event.” (2)

(1) Goldsmith, Rachel E., Christina Gamache Martin, and Carly Parnitzke Smith. “Systemic Trauma.” Journal of Trauma & Dissociation 15, no. 2 (March 11, 2014): 117–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2014.871666

(2) Foundation, The Crysalys. “Poverty and Trauma.” Poverty. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://tackling-trauma.com/poverty.html#:~:text=Living%20in%20poverty%20increases%20the,violence%2C%20parental%20neglect%20or%20abuse