JUVENILE CRIME DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN – THERE IS ALWAYS A STORY BEHIND IT.
Introducing Dr. Wendy Smith’s latest book – available this fall:
Before Their Crimes:
What We’re Misunderstanding about Child Trauma, Youth Crime, and the Path to Healing
ABOUT WENDY B. SMITH
ABOUT
WENDY B. SMITH
Wendy Smith has had a lifelong interest in vulnerable youth, especially those affected by the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. In her 35 years of psychotherapy practice, she treated many survivors of child maltreatment, and she is an expert in trauma and child development. Her first book, Youth Leaving Foster Care: a developmental, relationship-based approach to practice, was a text for social work graduate students.
A dedicated youth advocate, Dr. Smith was both a commissioner and chair of the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families, serving for eight years. She has been recognized by both the City and County of Los Angeles for her work with youth-serving community organizations, and has received awards from organizations such as The Alliance for Children’s Rights and CASA of Los Angeles.
She has served on the boards of United Friends of the Children, the Children’s Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch, the Anti-recidivism Coalition, and Venice Family Clinic, where she also chaired the Behavioral Health and Child Development Committee. She is a founding member and current chair of the board of the National Foster Youth Institute. She is also a former professor and associate dean of curriculum planning and assessment at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, where she now serves on the Board of Councilors. Dr. Smith has published articles on brain development & child welfare and has also appeared in the Netflix series The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez.
She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
BEFORE THEIR CRIMES:
WHAT WE’RE MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT CHILD
TRAUMA, YOUTH CARE, AND THE PATH TO HEALING
BEFORE THEIR CRIMES:
WHAT WE’RE MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT CHILD TRAUMA, YOUTH CARE, AND THE PATH TO HEALING
Before Their Crimes is a ground-breaking book that sheds new light on the role of childhood trauma in juvenile crime. Dr. Wendy Smith interviewed 20 men and women after their release from long prison sentences to learn about their early lives. In their own voices, they describe traumatic childhoods and the crimes they committed as teenagers in vivid detail, taking the reader into their homes, their schools, and into the scenes of their crimes.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)-a virtual list of bad things that happen to children based on a pioneering research study-help us understand how child abuse, neglect, a parent’s addiction, or the untimely death of a parent can send a child into a downward spiral. Before Their Crimes describes the toxic and irresistible appeal of gang involvement and substance abuse for traumatized kids. Readers experience the terrifying entry into prison at a tender age, and the surprising journey to healing and change.
Dr. Smith lays out in emotional and engaging detail how the trauma in these children’s lives led to harming others, showing us how and why this can happen. The stories also demonstrate that even in the bleakest of prisons, people can make the journey to healing and accountability. Finally, the book makes the powerful case that it is human connection that leads to change and reconciliation.
COMING SOON FOR PURCHASE AT:
