Date of Award
Spring 6-2-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Chitra Raghavan
Second Reader
Emily Haney-Caron
Third Advisor
Lisa R. Fischel-Wolovick
Abstract
Sex trafficking, as defined by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000), occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to trap their target into exploitative commercial sex work. However, the fraudulent and coercive tactics traffickers use during the initial stages further obscure the exploitative nature of these relationships leading to trafficked women being victimized as criminals or simply overlooked. Basra et al. (2022) proposed a new framework—Predatory Helpfulness—to provide more cohesive terminology with which to organize, assess, and understand how traffickers form relationships with their intended victims. In this study, I used a mixed-methods design to evaluate the application of the Predatory Helpfulness framework in a geographically and ethnically diverse sample of sex trafficking survivors (n = 59). Results showed strong support for the presence of Predatory Helpfulness tactics. Specifically, 58 of the 59 participants reported experiences matching Predatory Helpfulness grooming and recruitment tactics; 50 of the 59 participants also spontaneously identified a shift between the grooming and recruitment stages. Additionally, findings support the idea that traffickers are far more likely to prevail upon those in crisis and quickly (i.e., within six months) move to shift the relationship into exploitation. In sum, Predatory Helpfulness offers a clear way for legal actors to identify sex trafficking targets using both the federal legal definitions and survivors’ own language and narratives.
Recommended Citation
Kenney, Tatum E., "Predatory Helpfulness: A Replication (And Expansion) Study Examining Grooming and Recruitment Tactics in Sex Trafficking" (2023). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/279