This study examined lifetime trauma and life event stressors among young and older prisoners. A stratified random sample of young (age 18 to 24 years) and older (age 55 and above) male prisoners was drawn from the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Fifty-eight participants completed a modified version of the Trauma and Stressful Life Experiences Screening Inventory during face-to-face interviews. Approximately 40% of young and older adult prisoners reported exposure to violent victimization. Young prisoners were significantly more likely to report witnessing physical assault, whereas older prisoners were significantly more likely to report experiencing a natural disaster, life-threatening illness, or the death of a loved one. Information about the frequency of lifetime trauma and life event stressors can be used to develop or improve trauma-informed services that target age-specific needs, especially for young and older prisoners.

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.

Background: Despite the high incidence of estimated sexual assault on college campuses, underreporting is substantial and perpetuated by a culture of rape myths that are pervasive across college campuses and society in general. Aim: The aim of this study was to: examine college student awareness of their own sexual assault victimization status, barriers to reporting, and the prevalence of substance use in sexual assault. Method: This was a cross-sectional mixed-method survey sent to a universal sample of college students from two neighboring institutions of higher education (N=2,724). Results:Results from this survey demonstrated a lack of understanding of what constitutes sexual assault, primarily attributed to the normalization of assault and rape myths. Regardless of victim status awareness, those who were victimized were significantly more likely to use higher levels of alcohol than non-victims, and were less likely to identify their victimization as sexual assault, highlighting the need for college students to understand that alcohol-involved sexual assault is still sexual assault. Conclusions: Overwhelmingly, participants cited the potential consequences as far greater than any potential benefits to reporting sexual assault. Confusion about what constitutes sexual assault and uncertainty of available resources were also recognized as contributing factors in underreporting.

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The authors examined the relationship between avoidant and anxious attachment to God/Higher Power and bulimia symptoms among 599 female college student participants. After controlling for body mass index, the authors found a positive association between both attachment variables and bulimia. When entered together in a regression, anxious attachment to God/Higher Power had a stronger relationship with bulimia than did avoidant attachment to God/Higher Power. The authors discuss implications for college counseling.

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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.

We explored the relationship between four domains of differentiation of self and eating disorder symptoms among male college students. While all differentiation domains were significantly correlated with eating disorder symptoms, only two domains were statistically significant in a regression. Drawing from these results, we discuss family counseling implications.