Locked Away Twice: The Role of Minimisation and Denial of Childhood Trauma in Prison Rehabilitation

This research project aimed to enhance rehabilitation outcomes for men and their families in forensic treatment units by investigating potential underreporting of childhood trauma, which can be a barrier to engagement in rehabilitation. The studies explored men’s experiences of disclosing childhood trauma in forensic settings and the distinct functions of endorsing minimisation and denial items on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Using a mixed-methods approach, the quantitative study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the CTQ minimisation and denial (MD) scale by comparing MD rates between males in forensic rehabilitation and non-forensic males from New Zealand, with international studies. Rates of MD were significantly lower in the New Zealand samples than in the international samples, but they were consistent with the CTQ manual. While endorsing MD items was correlated with significantly lower reports of childhood abuse and neglect, it was not in the forensic sample, indicating a need to further explore MD in forensic contexts. The qualitative study involved focus groups with 10 men in prison-based rehabilitation for violent offending. Reflexive thematic analysis generated six themes centred on protecting one’s sense of self, shaped by sociocultural and contextual factors. The themes differed from the CTQ author’s original theoretical assumptions that MD detects social desirability biases. The findings highlight that MD can influence treatment readiness and engagement in rehabilitation and underscores the need for cautious interpretations of MD in forensic contexts. Future research should explore MD across special treatment units for those who have sexually offended, as well as for those who have violently offended, as the quantitative and qualitative studies analysed these samples independently, rather than concurrently. Future studies could also further analyse and interpret the relationship between MD, cultural dynamics, and gender dynamics, as these sociocultural factors influenced MD by working against the central idea of self-preservation.