Human trafficking is a transnational crime that allows traffickers to abuse victims physically and mentally, as well as stripping them of their human rights. The United Nations theory of human security and Mendelsohn's theory of victimology provided a conceptual framework to examine the harm that people endure from human trafficking. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explain how human trafficking threatens the security of people and communities. Reviewing data from the Department of State concerning trafficking led to the investigation of youth exploitation, the use of technology in advancing the growth of human trafficking, the health concerns of victims of communities, and the possible uses of money made by traffickers. The primary guiding question for this study asked, "How does human trafficking threaten the safety of people who live in communities and the security of those communities throughout the United States? Data were collected from articles and current information published by government agencies, news media, and non-governmental organizations. Data were analyzed after coding for themes and patterns using Braun and Clarke's 6-step thematic analysis procedure. Findings indicate that victims live in fear, have lost their lives, are operating in plain sight but not recognized as victims, and endanger people living in local communities. The implications for positive social change include recommendations for collaboration among all stakeholders at the local level where traffickers operate in vulnerable communities, increase training of local law enforcement and healthcare personnel in identifying victims properly, and the development of awareness programs that reach people in local communities.

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Human trafficking exists domestically and internationally, and each year thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked into lives of involuntary servitude. Law enforcement efforts to investigate human trafficking across the United States are similar in nature; yet, prior research had not investigated the possible causes of these similarities. Utilizing institutional theory, this research investigated whether institutional isomorphic pressures have any impact on the formalization of human trafficking investigations. Data were collected from 26 municipal police organizations in a mid-Atlantic state on departmental human trafficking policies and practices via Farrell's understanding law enforcement responses to human trafficking survey instrument. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict the probability of human trafficking investigations occurring when institutional coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphic pressures are introduced. The results indicated no significant relationship between institutional isomorphic pressures and the formalization of human trafficking investigations for the 26 municipal police departments in a mid-Atlantic state. Nonetheless, this study provides an understanding of municipal police department responses to human trafficking and investigatory practices. Accordingly, the social change implications of the study may encourage municipal policing institutions to develop and implement responses based upon human capital and interagency collaboration.

Throughout history, the media's rendering of slavery depicts vulnerable groups caught in a network of trafficking looking for a better life. Scholars of trafficking cite challenges in understanding the health care needs of domestic forced labor trafficking survivors in the United States. Seminal trafficking findings have shown that variations of trafficking affect the survivors' health after surviving trafficking. Therefore, in this qualitative, narrative inquiry I sought to understand how 8 survivors of forced labor trafficking, ages 25 years and older, described their health following trafficking beyond 5 years. The theory of social constructionism constituted the theoretical foundation, and the salutogenic model of health is the conceptual framework. The research questions for the study focused on understanding how adult survivors described experiences of entering and exiting trafficking, and their physical health, post-trafficking involvement. Criterion sampling facilitated identifying survivors of forced labor trafficking. Semi-structured interviewing guided the survivors' narrative storytelling. For analyzing the narratives, I used Braun and Clarke's Thematic Analysis strategy. The results of the pilot and main study showed that survivors suffer from an array of ongoing cognitive and general health concerns beyond surviving trafficking. The findings suggest that these ongoing health conditions influenced survivors' well-being beyond surviving trafficking. The results of the study may lead those in the medical field (e.g. health administrators) to identify other conditions influencing survivors' health after surviving trafficking.

Human Trafficking in Florida is a growing issue that affects individuals and communities on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. Although legislative efforts and changes in agency policies have raised awareness about this problem, limited awareness and research examines awareness of labor trafficking as one form of human trafficking. This exploratory-descriptive study used a convenience sampling technique to explore the perceptions of 45 Bachelors (BSW) and Masters (MSW) level social work students on the prevalence and nature of labor trafficking. The findings from the research show students have a general idea of labor trafficking and believe in equal access to human rights for victims. However, majority of students were unaware of current legislation to aid victims in Florida, and the prevalence of men as victims. Implications from this study show a need for further education within social work policies that aid labor trafficking victims, and a need for additional research to identify specific ways students can learn about human trafficking.

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Human trafficking, the cruel and inhumane crime that it is, exploits the lives of millions of people around the world. My study explores the common vulnerabilities that exist for victims of cross-national human trafficking. First, I analyze literature discussing individual and country- level victim demographics to identify characteristics that predict recruitment or abduction into human trafficking. Using the 2017 Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative, I demonstrate the applicability of Cohen and Felson's 1979 Routine Activity Theory (RAT) to explain the vulnerabilities to victimization further. More specifically, I use VIVA to assess the methods of control and types of exploitation utilized by domestic and international traffickers. A sociological study that combines the work of RAT and VIVA in relation to human trafficking victimization is yet to exist, therefore I am seeking to fill this research gap. The overarching goal of this study is to form a victim profile through cluster analysis and logistic regression in order to locate the unique patterns of victimization. My findings demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between the three clusters formed, the methods of control used by the perpetrator (physical, psychological, and economic abuse), and the types of exploitation suffered by the victim (sexual and labor exploitation). / Master of Science / Human trafficking is the abduction and exploitation of individuals, in which victims are manipulated into sex or labor trafficking in unfamiliar environments without compensation. Trafficking occurs beyond national borders, therefore I look at victims originating from all over the globe. The literature I utilize looks at individual-level demographics and national-level characteristics. I then use a database to link certain social and theoretical elements of these demographics and characteristics to the methods of control and types of exploitation traffickers enforce upon their victims. Overall, this study forms a victim profile and locates the unique patterns of trafficking victimization through multiple data applications. My thesis concludes with findings on clusters that combine age, gender, recruiter relations, literacy rates, and trafficking laws and regressions that link these clusters to physical, psychological, and economic control as well as sexual and labor exploitation.

Human trafficking is a criminal act that occurs globally. It affects both women and men, but most studies have focused on female victims; few have explored trafficked men or their related health issues. Though there are many forms of trafficking, it is believed that most male victims are trafficked as forced labor. Using gender schema theory as a framework, this quantitative study examined archival data to identify the types of trafficking men are subjected to, their health ailments, and how these differ from the health ailments of trafficked women. Archival data from 124 individuals subjected to human trafficking in Florida were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis, one-way ANOVA, Mann Whitney U, and Fisher's exact tests. Findings indicated that males were more likely to have been labor trafficked compared to other forms of trafficking, and that labor trafficked persons were not more susceptible to health ailments than were sex trafficked persons. Also, there was a significant difference in health conditions between male and female victims, with females reporting more issues such as malnourishment, skin rash, and anxiety. These findings help to alter the misperception that men are traffickers only by recognizing them to be victims as well. Implications for social change include increased awareness of male trafficking in health care policies and human trafficking prevention efforts.

Human trafficking has existed in various forms throughout human history, but it never drew public attention until recent years. This thesis attempts to explore the causes of labor trafficking by empirical research and provide the government with anti-trafficking measures for Taiwan. The research comprised both quantitative and qualitative methods, in which a questionnaire survey was administered and in-depth interviews were conducted. A total of 167 illegal foreign laborers detained in the Yilan Detention Center and 7 social workers in shelters for trafficking victims participated in the study. Results of the research showed that most runaway foreign laborers came to Taiwan with the assistance of a broker agency, and that they paid brokerage fees with bank loans, while irregular foreign laborers were assisted by friends or relatives in their homelands or in Taiwan and paid their way with personal savings or loans from friends or relatives. It is common for both runaway foreign laborers and irregular foreign laborers to be charged extra fees and to be paid less than they were told before entering Taiwan. Labor trafficking in Taiwan is largely the result of a system of high brokerage fees without a standard and transparent mechanism. In addition, contract foreign laborers cannot change employers at will, which is also a key factor. Consequently, the government of Taiwan should actively negotiate with labor exporting nations to manage the payment of brokerage fees and modify foreign labor policy to decrease the illegality of foreign laborers and employers.