Onto the Next Generation: Exploring the Impact of Mother's Experiences of Child Abuse and Commercial Sex Industry Involvement on Child Custody Outcomes.

Women and girls remain substantially overrepresented in the commercial sex industry. While a number of outcomes have been linked to childhood abuse and involvement with the commercial sex industry, there exists a gap in understanding the unique impact of child abuse on child custody outcomes among adult women involved in the commercial sex industry. Drawing from data collected from 107 case files of adult women with a history of commercial sex industry involvement, the aim of the current study was to understand the link between child abuse history, commercial sex industry involvement, and child custody outcomes. Results indicated that among women who reported a history of child sex trafficking, 91.7% reported having endured child abuse. Further, 82.4% of women reported that their children were not under their custody. Dysfunctional family dynamics, substance abuse, and economic and structural barriers endured by these women are explored further, and intergenerational continuity of such traumagenic precarities is considered as a prolonged implication of such issues. Through a trauma-informed perspective, implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Exploring the Role of Prior Sexual Abuse in the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys and Young Men.

Although there has been a large body of research conducted on girl and young women victims of commercial sexual exploitation, boy and young men victims do not receive the same attention. The scant research that exists demonstrates mixed findings on the prevalence of boys and young men as victims of commercial sexual exploitation. For example, some studies find they are not as likely to be victims and others find they are victimized equally, or in some cases, potentially even more so than girls and young women, depending on location. ECPAT published a study in 2013 that revealed a lack of awareness and misclassification of boys as victims and the lack of services available to help them. The purpose of this study is to replicate the ECPAT study and determine what changes might have occurred over the past decade. We consulted with key individuals involved in serving boys and young men and conducted a survey of anti-trafficking service agencies to gather current information on the boys/young men being referred to them for care, the dynamics of their victimization, their most pressing needs, the services/programs being offered, and gaps in service in their respective locations. Among other relevant findings, one commonality among the boys and young men served by the responding agencies was a history of sexual abuse. Findings inform service providers and contribute to advocacy efforts and policy recommendations at the local, state, and federal levels.

Personality traits and male vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation victimisation.

BACKGROUND: There has been little research into whether personality traits increase vulnerability to serious forms of recurring victimisation, such as commercial sexual exploitation of young people. AIMS: To investigate whether impulsivity, emotional dysregulation or high psychopathy scale scores indicative of personality traits increase vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation. METHODS: Data were used from the longitudinal Pathways to Desistance Study 1170 justice-involved men who were aged 14-19 at baseline data collection. Ninety-eight (8%) reported having been commercially sexually exploited during adolescence or young adulthood. We investigated whether personality traits measured at baseline were related to such victimisation. RESULTS: Results of binomial logistic regression among the young men in this sample indicated that Factor 1 scores on the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV), reflecting affective and interpersonal features, are associated with having been commercially sexually exploited, while impulsivity, emotional dysregulation and Factor 2 PCL-YV, reflecting antisocial activities, were not. Having been a victim of other violence and being a member of a cultural or ethnic minority group were also independently related to being exploited. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Our findings show that individual differences in personality, such as fearless temperament and boredom susceptibility, could differentially disadvantage young people, and put them at greater risk of commercial sexual exploitation. This knowledge could be beneficial to prevention efforts supporting male adolescents at risk for victimisation by commercial sexual exploitation, and to shed new light on the theoretical understanding of vulnerability to it.

Parallel-process trajectories of exposure to violence and psychological distress among justice-involved youth.

BACKGROUND: Researchers have raised awareness of high levels of violence exposure among justice-involved adolescents and its association with psychological distress, yet the relationship between the violence and psychological distress has rarely been studied longitudinally. AIM: This study aimed to gain understanding of the relationship between long-term exposure to violence and the development of psychological distress among justice-involved adolescents. METHODS: We examined exposure to violence and emergent psychological distress among adolescents using latent growth model analyses with a sample of 1,336 young people-male and female-who completed 10 follow-up interviews over 7 years as part of the Pathways to Desistance study. We tested four models: (a) changes in exposure to violence over time, (b) changes in psychological distress over time, (c) the contemporaneous, parallel processes of changes in exposure to violence and psychological distress over time, and (d) differences in the evolution of violence exposure and psychological distress across sex and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: For the sample as a whole, exposure to violence decreased over time, as did psychological distress, but their relationship to each other was consistent. There were individual differences, however, and the subgroup of young African Americans did not experience the reduction in exposure to violence reported by the young Whites and Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Trajectories of exposure to violence and related psychological distress did not escalate over time as expected. In light of these findings, more research is needed on the heterogeneity of violence exposure and its negative psychological impacts.

The Relationships Among Exposure to Violence, Psychological Distress, and Gun Carrying Among Male Adolescents Found Guilty of Serious Legal Offenses: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Gun violence and psychological problems are often conflated in public discourse on gun safety. However, few studies have empirically assessed the effect of exposure to violence when exploring the association between gun carrying and psychological distress. OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential effect of exposure to violence on the associations between gun carrying and psychological distress among vulnerable adolescents. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: The Pathways to Desistance study, a study of youths found guilty of a serious criminal offense in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, or Maricopa County, Arizona. PARTICIPANTS: 1170 male youths aged 14 to 19 years who had been found guilty of a serious criminal offense. MEASUREMENTS: Youths were assessed at baseline and at four 6-month intervals with regard to gun carrying ("Have you carried a gun?"), psychological distress (Global Severity Index), and exposure to violence (modified version of the Exposure to Violence Inventory). RESULTS: At the bivariate level, gun carrying was consistently associated with higher levels of psychological distress. However, the association between psychological distress and gun carrying diminished or disappeared when exposure to violence was considered. Exposure to violence (as either a victim or a witness) was significantly related to gun carrying at all follow-up assessments, with increased odds of gun carrying ranging from 1.43 to 1.87 with each additional report of exposure to violence. LIMITATIONS: The study sample was limited to justice-involved male youths. Precarrying distress and exposure to violence could not be fully captured because many participants had initiated gun carrying before baseline. CONCLUSION: In male youths involved in the criminal justice system, the relationship between psychological distress and gun carrying seems to be influenced by exposure to violence (either experiencing or witnessing it). Further study is warranted to explore whether interventions after exposure to violence could reduce gun carrying in this population. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: None.

Sex Trafficking of Girls With Intellectual Disabilities: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study.

Few researchers have examined sex trafficking of girls with intellectual disabilities (IDs). Drawing from 54 juvenile sex trafficking (JST) cases, this exploratory, mixed methods study compared 15 JST cases involving girls with ID with 39 JST cases involving girls without ID. Findings revealed a disproportionate risk for exploitation in JST for girls with ID, endangering circumstances creating vulnerability among this population, as well as the perpetrator-victim dynamics that complicate prevention and intervention. Complicating dynamics included victim lack of awareness of exploitation and its endangerments, inability of victims to self-identify, and the relative ease with which traffickers manipulated these girls. The disproportionate risk faced by girls with ID substantiates the need for enhanced safeguards to prevent sexual exploitation of girls with ID including stiffer penalties for those who exploit and buy sex with youth with disabilities.

Human Trafficking of Minors and Childhood Adversity in Florida.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the link between human trafficking of minors and childhood adversity. METHODS: We compared the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and cumulative childhood adversity (ACE score) among a sample of 913 juvenile justice-involved boys and girls in Florida for whom the Florida child abuse hotline accepted human trafficking abuse reports between 2009 and 2015 with those of a matched sample. RESULTS: ACE composite scores were higher and 6 ACEs indicative of child maltreatment were more prevalent among youths who had human trafficking abuse reports. Sexual abuse was the strongest predictor of human trafficking: the odds of human trafficking was 2.52 times greater for girls who experienced sexual abuse, and there was a 8.21 times greater risk for boys who had histories of sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Maltreated youths are more susceptible to exploitation in human trafficking. Sexual abuse in connection with high ACE scores may serve as a key predictor of exploitation in human trafficking for both boys and girls.

Effect of Gun Carrying on Perceptions of Risk Among Adolescent Offenders.

OBJECTIVES: We observed how perceptions of risks, costs, crime rewards, and violence exposure change as individual gun-carrying behavior changes among high-risk adolescents. METHODS: We analyzed a longitudinal study (2000-2010) of serious juvenile offenders in Maricopa County, Arizona, or Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, assessing within-person changes in risk and reward perceptions, and violence exposure as individuals initiated or ceased gun carrying. RESULTS: Despite being associated with heightened exposure to violence, gun carrying was linked to lower perceptions of risks and costs and higher perceived rewards of offending. Gun carrying was not time-stable, as certain individuals both started and stopped carrying during the study. Within-person changes in carrying guns were associated with shifting perceptions of risks, costs, and rewards of crime, and changes in exposure to violence in expected directions. CONCLUSIONS: Gun carrying reduces perceptions of risks associated with offending while increasing actual risk of violence exposure. This suggests that there is an important disconnect between perceptions and objective levels of safety among high-risk youths. Gun-carrying decisions may not only be influenced by factors of protection and self-defense, but also by perceptions of risks and reward associated with engaging in crime more generally.

Entrapment and Enmeshment Schemes Used by Sex Traffickers.

Emerging research suggests that sex traffickers/pimps control the majority of trafficked girls in the United States. The youthfulness of these victims and their lack of psychosocial maturity severely diminish their ability to detect exploitative motives or withstand manipulation of traffickers. A review of 43 cases of sexually exploited girls involving non-relative traffickers and 10 semi-structured interviews with social service providers revealed numerous scripts and schemes used by sex traffickers to entrap and entangle victims including boyfriend/lover scripts, ruses involving debt bondage, friendship or faux-family scripts, threats of forced abortion or to take away children, and coerced co-offending. These findings inform potential prevention efforts and highlight the need for multi-systemic, victim-centered approaches to intervention.

Risk and resiliency factors influencing onset and adolescence-limited commercial sexual exploitation of disadvantaged girls.

BACKGROUND: Previous research into age-related variables relevant to girls and young women being involved in commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) has not distinguished between its onset and limitation to adolescence and its early onset and persistence into adult life. AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine variables associated with adolescent versus adult onset of commercial sexual exploitation and identify potential risk and resiliency factors differentiating adolescence-limited sexual exploitation and early-onset-adult persistent exploitation. METHOD: Interviews with 174 vulnerable mostly African-American women, 23% of whom reported commercial sexual exploitation in adolescence and/or adulthood, yielded data, which were analysed using multinomial logistic regressions. RESULTS: Adolescent sexual victimisation, younger age at first alcohol/drug use, being a victim of intimate partner violence and sense of stigmatisation of sexual self/others were all variables associated with adolescent onset of commercial sexual exploitation. Educational attainment differentiated adolescence limited from adolescent-adult persistent exploitation; exploitation had ceased by adulthood among over two-thirds of those who completed at least high school education, but only 13% of those exploited into adult life had finished high school. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: As level of education was linked to cessation of exploitation by adulthood, support for vulnerable girls to complete education at least to high school level may be protective.The link between early onset of substance misuse and persistent exploitation suggests that education and support specifically targeted within this field could reduce likelihood of persistent abuse.Work directed at improvement of self-image may also reduce risk of persistent exploitation.

On the Overlap of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Intimate Partner Violence: An Exploratory Examination of Trauma-Related Shame.

Every year, millions of people experience intimate partner violence (IPV) and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), with researchers increasingly discussing the overlap between these two forms of interpersonal violence. However, researchers have not yet used quantitative methods to examine the link between IPV and CSE or to explore potential mechanisms underlying the overlap, including child maltreatment risk factors and psychological mechanisms. One potential mechanism is trauma-related shame, a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder commonly experienced by both victims of CSE and IPV. The current study explores trauma-related shame, childhood maltreatment, and IPV and their associations with CSE using a sample of 174 primarily Black women. Binomial logistic regression is used to analyze the impact of IPV, child abuse and neglect, and trauma-related shame on CSE. Results indicate that IPV and trauma-related shame are both significant predictors of CSE. Implications for future research and the incorporation of shame in trauma-related treatment are discussed.

Validation of the Trauma Bonding Scale for Adults© in Kenya.

Recently validated among a sample of young adults in the United States, the Trauma Bonding Scale for Adults© is a much-needed instrument for assessing trauma bonding, which refers to the emotional attachment that often develops between perpetrators and victims of violent and exploitive crimes and is common among survivors of sex trafficking. To assess its utility with other populations, this study aimed to validate the Trauma Bonding Scale for Adults© with a sample of young adults in Kenya. An anonymous survey containing demographic items, the Trauma Bonding Scale for Adults©, and 12 items from an open-source measure of posttraumatic stress disorder was administered to 538 young adults aged 18 to 29 in Kenya using Qualtrics XM. Findings from an analysis of psychometric properties suggest that the Trauma Bonding Scale for Adults© is a valid and reliable measure of trauma bonding that may be useful in a global context.

Examining Individual and Contextual Correlates of Victimization for Juvenile Human Trafficking in Florida.

Despite extant literature on individual-level risk factors for sex trafficking among children and adolescents, little is known about the impact of social and ecological contexts on risk of human trafficking victimization. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlates signaling risk of human trafficking victimization at the individual, family, social, and community levels utilizing a sample of 40,531 justice-involved male and female youth, a small fraction of whom were suspected or verified victims of human trafficking between 2011 and 2015 (N = 801, including 699 female and 102 male youth). Using this sample, we examined differences across individual, family, social, and community characteristics of youth involved in the juvenile justice system who have a history of trafficking victimization and youth without such histories. Series of logistic regression analyses were conducted using varying control groups, created through exact matching and randomized matching groups to address sample imbalances. These analyses indicate that, at the individual level, youth who had experienced childhood adversities were more likely to report human trafficking victimization. Sex differences were found regarding risk factors pertaining to the family and broader socio-ecological contexts. Female youth who had witnessed family violence had an antisocial partner or antisocial friends, or resided in a community with a greater proportion of the population being foreign-born or speaking English less than very well were at heightened risk for human trafficking victimization. Little evidence was found for community-level risk factors of victimization in this specific sample of justice-involved youth. These findings encourage more research to unpack the multilevel correlates of victimizations at the individual, family, social, and community levels, recognizing potential differences between female and male youth regarding the factors that put them at heightened risk for juvenile sex trafficking victimizations. Practice and policy should direct awareness and prevention measures to social and ecological contexts.

In the post-COVID-19 era, is the illegal wildlife trade the most serious form of trafficking?

Despite the immense impact of wildlife trafficking, comparisons of the profits, costs, and seriousness of crime consistently rank wildlife trafficking lower relative to human trafficking, drug trafficking and weapons trafficking. Using the published literature and current events, we make the case, when properly viewed within the context of COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases transmitted from wildlife, that wildlife trafficking is the most costly and perhaps the most serious form of trafficking. Our synthesis should raise awareness of the seriousness of wildlife trafficking for humans, thereby inducing strategic policy decisions that boost criminal justice initiatives and resources to combat wildlife trafficking.

Nightmares and flashbacks: The impact of commercial sexual exploitation of children among female adolescents placed in residential care.

BACKGROUND: Important unresolved questions remain concerning the specific vulnerabilities and intervention needs of female adolescents who experience commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), when compared to other highly vulnerable female adolescents. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess differences in the level of post-traumatic symptoms reported by those who experienced CSEC during adolescence and those who did not. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The study used longitudinal data collected from 125 French-speaking female adolescents who were placed in residential centers between the ages 12 and 17 years. METHOD: Post-traumatic symptoms were assessed at Time 1 and Time 6, while CSEC involvement was assessed at Times 1-5. One-way ANOVAs were performed to inspect differences in the level of post-traumatic symptoms at Time 6 between the participants who reported CSEC during adolescence (n = 70; 56.0%) and those with no history of CSEC (n = 55; 44.0%). Hierarchical regressions examined the effects of CESC while controlling for age, immigration status, child sexual abuse, and post-traumatic symptoms reported at Time 1. RESULTS: CSEC during adolescence predicted higher levels of general post-traumatic symptoms, anxious arousal, intrusive experiences, defensive avoidance, and dissociation. CONCLUSIONS: CSEC experiences intensify the existing vulnerabilities to traumatic sequelae that characterize female adolescents who are placed in residential care.

Staying Home, Staying Safe? A Short-Term Analysis of COVID-19 on Dallas Domestic Violence.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the lives of persons around the world and social scientists are just beginning to understand its consequences on human behavior. One policy that public health officials put in place to help stop the spread of the virus were stay-at-home/shelter-in-place lockdown-style orders. While designed to protect people from the coronavirus, one potential and unintended consequence of such orders could be an increase in domestic violence - including abuse of partners, elders or children. Stay-at-home orders result in perpetrators and victims being confined in close quarters for long periods of time. In this study, we use data from Dallas, Texas to examine the extent to which a local order was associated with an increase in domestic violence. Our results provide some evidence for a short-term spike in the 2 weeks after the lockdown was instituted but a decrease thereafter. We note that it is difficult to determine just how much the lockdown was the cause of this increase as the domestic violence trend was increasing prior to the order.

A model of vulnerability for adult sexual victimization: the impact of attachment, child maltreatment, and scarred sexuality.

Extending previous research, this study utilized structural equation modeling to examine the effects of poor mother/child attachment, child neglect, juvenile sexual victimization (JSV), and Finkelhor and Browne's (1985) proposed construct of traumatic sexualization on vulnerability to adult sexual victimization. The proposed model was assessed using data drawn from a sample of African American females involved in a prospective study of child sexual abuse survivors. This group was matched to similar others without such history. Findings suggest that child neglect worsens with poor mother/child attachment, resulting in a greater likelihood of JSV. Both neglect and JSV impact shaming sexual beliefs and behaviors, contributing to the risk for adult sexual victimization. This set of variables accounted for 27% of variance in adult sexual victimization.

No youth left behind to human trafficking: Exploring profiles of risk.

The objective of this study was to analytically identify risk profiles for juvenile human trafficking (JHT) based on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and health risk behaviors. First, the study examined which types of ACEs and health risk behaviors were more prevalent among trafficked adolescents using a sample of 913 male and female juvenile-justice-involved adolescents with suspected or verified JHT abuse reports documented between 2009 and 2015 and a comparison group (matched by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and location). Second, latent class analysis was used to identify profiles of risk for JHT. Finally, associations between JHT risk profiles and demographic characteristics provided a more comprehensive depiction of various types of trafficked adolescents. Study findings indicate that adolescents with JHT abuse reports were more likely to report child maltreatment and internalizing health risk behaviors reflective of self-harm and attempts to cope with trauma. Trafficked youth were less likely to report externalizing health risk behaviors related to violence or harming others. Six distinctive profiles of risk for JHT were identified. Three JHT risk profiles were characterized by extensive child maltreatment and health risk behaviors and were differentiated by placement in foster care and substance use. Three JHT risk profiles were characterized by less extensive histories of child maltreatment and were differentiated by drug use. In conclusion, these findings highlight that the current depictions of adolescent victims of human trafficking are too narrow and may lead to critical health care and service provision disparities for many trafficked adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-graded risks for commercial sexual exploitation of male and female youth.

Emerging evidence indicates male youth are affected by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). However, most studies investigating risk markers influencing age of onset of CSE have focused on vulnerabilities of girls and women. Using a sample of 1,354 serious youthful offenders (of whom approximately 8% of males and females reported being paid for sex), the current study assessed whether risks associated with age of onset of CSE for girls and young women operated similarly in boys and young men. Findings showed that African American male youth were at heightened risk for CSE, while female youth of all races/ethnicities were at similar risk. For all youth, maternal substance use and earlier age of first sex were associated with early age of onset of CSE. For male youth, experiencing rape and substance use dependency were associated with early age of onset. Psychotic symptoms, likely experienced as social alienation, were associated with both early and late age of onset. For all youth, lower educational attainment was associated with CSE beginning in later adolescence or young adulthood. In addition, substance use dependency was linked to late age of onset for female youth. Implications of the study findings for theory development and application to CSE are noted.