Here’s a simple way to understand how trauma starts and how trauma spreads: A person goes to sit in a chair, but the chair breaks. Punishment does not stop the cycle of trauma but worsens and either fuels existing trauma or creates new ones. It’s no wonder the United States, whose cities invest between one-quarter and one-third of public revenue into policing, subsequently has high levels of incarceration. The trauma such systems inflict can be measured by the level of trauma reenactment in any given society. Our current system does little to address the hurt victims of crime suffer.