"Human trafficking is a pervasive problem that affects approximately 50 million people globally. Being trafficked can lead to a series of psychosocial and biocultural consequences, as well as having legal and socioeconomic repercussions. Due to these consequences, survivors are left to meet unmet needs in order to improve their quality of life. In order to do this, they engage in various coping mechanisms. Engagement in coping mechanisms can lead to increased resilience, therefore improving their quality of life. Little research is available to support this theory. The current study examined resilience, quality of life, and coping mechanisms in 238 survivors of human trafficking of which 68 were survivors of sex trafficking. Researchers hypothesized that avoidant coping would predict lowered levels of resilience, lowered quality of life would predict lowered levels of resilience, and that quality of life would mediate the relationship between avoidant coping mechanisms and resilience. Results indicated that lowered quality of life in four domains predicted lowered levels of resilience. For future research, it is suggested that researchers examine other forms of coping mechanisms to determine their ability to predict resilience and quality of life"--Page 7.

Foregrounding the voices of women who have survived experiences of domestic sex trafficking in the US, this text implements qualitative research methodologies to illustrate how experiences of complex trauma have impact on women’s identities, sexuality, relationships, and re-integration into communities. Building on theoretical understandings of complex trauma and posttraumatic growth, this volume centers insights from in-depth interviews and photovoice methodology to document survivors’ experience of sex trafficking and recovery. Outlining the nature of support and services available, the text identifies recommendations for effective recovery and in doing so, emphasizes women’s capacity for post-traumatic growth. Relationship development, therapeutic and peer-support are highlighted as primary sources of healing. Ultimately, the text affirms the need for trauma-informed, ecological, and relational perspectives in the care of survivors. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in trauma studies, clinical social work, and those working in mental health research more broadly. The text will also support further discussion and reflection around mental health services and support systems, adult trauma counselling, and mental health policy.

This work offers an analysis of the existing literature on trauma, resilience, posttraumatic growth, and sex trafficking. It argues that the field tends to gravitate toward trauma and overlook resilience and the potential for posttraumatic growth amongst survivors of sex trafficking. This work recommends that the field should attend to both abuses endured as well as the courage and strength gained by survivors. Specifically, it argues that it is the task of the mental health professional to step into trauma trajectories with a strengths-based perspective to promote positive, resilient, and growth-oriented outcomes. Resilience and posttraumatic growth theories have been substantiated by empirical support across all gradients of risk and trauma exposure. Survivors of sexual assault, child abuse, trafficking in childhood for genocide soldiers, holocaust survivors, and family crises are among this evidence base; all of which parallel aspects of sex trafficking. However, the field has yet to explore this particular subset of trauma survivors. Research has also demonstrated that when clinicians look for strengths, beginning with the initial interview, they find internal assets and external resources that mark resilience processes in their clients. This type of initial interview then incites a trajectory toward growth-oriented treatment. To apply these concepts, this dissertation proposes resilience and posttraumatic growth guidelines for working with survivors in treatment and research capacities. This work also provides a brief review of how aftercare programs within the United States utilize these guidelines and where they can improve. Finally, phases of treatment and a preliminary model for program components is suggested, which is based on the proposed resilience and growth recommendations.

Researchers have not been able to ascertain how survivors of childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse, develop resilience. To explore resilience and what influences its development, this mixed-method study investigated the roles of cognitive emotion regulation and proactive coping by using a critical-realist ontology. The data was collected from eight women (between ages 25 and 56) who considered themselves to be resilient survivors of severe child sexual abuse. Harvey's (2000) Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Interview (MTRR-I), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski, Kraaij & Spinhoven, 2002) and Greenglass's (1999) Proactive Coping Inventory were used to gather the data necessary to determine whether resilience is influenced by cognitive emotion regulation strategies and proactive coping and to attempt to define what could be considered as traits of resilience in survivors or child sexual abuse. Through thematic analysis, approximately 50 a-priori codes were generated and grouped into 23 themes using the Atlas.ti program. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation, proactive coping and resilience in order to better understand, and develop intervention processes that can provide survivors of child sexual abuse and other trauma with the resources needed to be more resilient. Although causality could not be determined between these variables, it became evident that the more often a participant employs adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and the higher the scores on the Proactive Coping Inventory are, the more resilient the participant tends to be. The participants who displayed higher levels of resilience also verbalised that they felt they had dealt with the abuse and had managed to move on in their lives. Even though all the participants considered themselves to be resilient, half of them were functioning at a noticeably lower rate of resilience than the others. All the participants claimed to rely on spiritual strength in some way and attribute their resilience to their faith in God. The higher the levels of resilience, the more the participants used adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and proactive coping: and the more optimistic their views of the future and the more they considered their lives to be meaningful. Because the study was based on the ecological model of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1995, 2005,) the interplay of the proximal environment, the individual, the social context and the changes that have taken place over time, were all taken into consideration because resilience, cognitive emotion regulation and proactive coping skills all develop within and between the same systems in which an individual develops. However, Bronfenbrenner (2005) states that the family is no longer taking the responsibility for the upbringing of children as it should and that other settings in society have had to step in to fulfil the role. One aspect of mental health is the ability to develop spiritually and since schools may not include religious instruction because it is the responsibility of the family, it happens that children are not being developed spiritually and this could influence the way in which individuals deal with traumatic childhood experiences.

This practical, interdisciplinary text draws from empirically grounded scholarship, survivor-centered practices, and an ecological perspective to help readers develop an understanding of the meaning and scope of human trafficking. Throughout the book, the authors address the specific vulnerabilities of human trafficking victims, their medical-psycho-social needs, and issues related to direct service delivery. They also address the identification of human trafficking crimes, traffickers, and the impact of this crime on the global economy. Using detailed case studies to illuminate real situations, the book covers national and international anti-trafficking policies, prevention and intervention strategies, promising practices to combat human trafficking, responses of law enforcement and service providers, organizational challenges, and the cost of trafficking to human wellbeing.

This handbook is an international, comprehensive, reference tool in the field of trafficking in people and slavery. It covers everything from historical perspectives to cutting-edge topics to provide a high-level and systematic examination of the field which is at the forefront of both research and practice. It has an impressive breadth of entries from leading experts and international organisations to NGOs on the ground. This handbook is truly global with contributions from scholars and practitioners on virtually every continent (e.g. Europe, North America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and South America). This book also covers problematic areas that cannot be found in other reference works. The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking is divided into eight key sections: 1. History of Slavery and Trafficking in Persons 2. Explanations and Methods of Inquiry 3. Types of Trafficking in Persons 4. Trafficking in Persons and Response Mechanisms 5. Organizational Profiles 6. Country, Region and Local Response Mechanisms 7. The work of Non-Governmental Organizations 8. Future Issues and Directions in Controlling Trafficking in Persons.