The ARTIC was developed because currently there is no objective way to determine the extent to which an individual or system is “trauma-informed.” Although a great deal of scholarship has addressed the principles and theorized about the elements of TIC, theory-building and practice is far ahead of science.
The TIC field is primed to move from conceptual thinking to data-driven analysis of TIC and its effects. This forward movement is blocked by the absence of psychometrically robust instruments to evaluate TIC. The ARTIC is a low-cost, practical, and immediate way to measure TIC within organizations and schools serving people who have suffered adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma.
The ARTIC measures professionals’ and paraprofressionals’ attitudes more or less favorable toward TIC. Attitudes were selected as the metric based on the premise that an important factor in successful implementation of TIC depends on the moment-to-moment, day-to-day behavior of personnel, and attitudes are important in driving this behavior.
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