Schema Behind Bars: Trauma, Age, Ethnicity, and Offenders’ World Assumptions

The purpose of this pilot study is to examine the impact of trauma, age, and ethnicity on the world assumptions of criminal offenders. Fifty-eight incarcerated offenders completed a modified version of Stressful Life Events Screening Inventory (SLESI) and the World Assumptions Scale (WAS) during 1-hr face-to-face interviews. Ordinary least square regression analyses revealed that trauma significantly predicted meaningfulness of the world among criminal offenders. Age group significantly predicted perceptions of overall world assumptions and benevolence of the world, whereas, exposure to trauma and ethnicity significantly predicted perceptions of self-worth. Understanding how trauma impacts the world assumptions of criminal offenders can be used to develop or improve cognitive focused interventions that address world assumptions as well as more serious psychological symptoms of trauma among criminal offenders.