Schemas are cognitive structures that
develop through experience and process information
throughout the lifespan. This study proposed that
linguistic and emotion properties were indicative of schema
processing and would be correlated in trauma and self
narratives. An archived data set of 21 life history
interviews originally collected in the mid- 1980's from 13
European American and 8 African American women prisoners
was used to examine the question. Statements relating to
childhood trauma and adult self descriptions were isolated
within original narratives and used as the basic unit of
analysis. Correlations of values were then calculated
between trauma and self statements to test whether similar
patterns of response would be detected across statement
type. Comparisons of the individual profile of emotion
themes within self and trauma statements revealed that some
consistent patterns of emotion were detected. Further
analyses comparing these profiles to the behavioral content
of life narratives suggests that tracking emotional and
behavioral patterns across the life narrative may be useful
in expanding schema detection.