Adolescent girls with a history of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE): Perceptions and characteristics of social networks

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105015Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Previous research has demonstrated that social support systems such as family, peers, or social services can play a role in adolescent girls' involvement in commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) (Hargreaves- Cormany & Patterson, 2016; Phillips, 2015, Reid & Piquero, 2016).

Objectives

Few studies have specifically explored the meanings adolescent girls with a history of CSE give to their social networks and how these may be associated with CSE vulnerability. The current study examines how important networks are labeled and characterized by these youth.

Participants

This study identifies the social networks used by eight racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls who have experienced CSE.

Methods

Using individual interviews, participants were asked to identify individuals and systems with which they interact and provide meanings about these social supports' roles and value in their lives. Additionally, the degree to which participants viewed each source as influential was explored. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Social Network Theory guided the analysis.

Results

Two major themes emerged from the data: a) the social networks perceived as influential in the participants' daily lives and b) the perception of the social network's characteristics as negative or positive. Both positive and negative social networks contained some of the same members.

Conclusion

The current findings point to key social networks for racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls and the potential role of these networks regarding girls' CSE vulnerability. The duality of some network members illustrate the importance of viewing the role of social networks as both complex and dynamic for girls who have experienced CSE. Clinicians should take care to consider the role of intersectional factors when treating members of this community.

Introduction

In the United States (US), commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of children is an especially concerning public health and human rights issue. CSE is a form of trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion in exchange for something of value (United States, 2000). For those under the age of 18, evidence of force, fraud, or coercion is not a requirement. CSE is also not limited to financial transactions and can include the exchange of anything of value (such as food or shelter) for sexual acts (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2021). Miami, Florida, has been recognized as an urban center with high rates of CSE of children. Reports from the Florida Department of Children and Families (2019) shows that of the 2198 human trafficking reports made to FDCF in 2019, approximately 93 % were classified as CSE of children (Florida Department of Children & Families, 2019). The majority of which coming from within Miami-Dade County.

Racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls living in low resource contexts are particularly vulnerable to CSE due to systemic factors including income instability, low parental monitoring, and negative race relations with police and governmental systems (Epstein, Blake, & Gonzzlez, 2017; Fomby, Mollborn, & Sennott, 2010; Gerassi, 2019; Gutman, Mcloyd, & Tokoyawa, 2005; Hadley et al., 2011; Phillips, 2015). However, the cultural narrative of CSE predominately focuses on middle class, suburban white adolescent girls as victims (Gerassi, 2019; Moss, 2019; Phillips, 2015). In combination with stereotyping racial/ethnic minority girls as hypersexual, this narrative often renders these youth’s experiences invisible (Gerassi, 2019; Moss, 2019). These unique factors enmeshed within adolescents’ developmental realities contribute to the high CSE rates among racial/ethnic minority girls in these settings (Kruger et al., 2013; Phillips, 2015).

Prior research has noted that social support systems can play a role in adolescent girls’ involvement in CSE (Hargreaves-Cormany & Patterson, 2016). Specifically, adolescent girls’ relationship quality with family members and friends can either buffer or increase CSE vulnerability (Buck, Lawrence, & Ragonese, 2017; Reid & Piquero, 2016). Further, perceptions of school, law enforcement, and other relevant service organizations also influence engagement in CSE. Distrust and a lack of training in trauma-informed care in these agencies can lead youth to refuse services that may assist them in exiting from CSE (Macias-Konstantopoulos et al., 2015; Phillips, 2015). This is important to consider when examining racial/ethnic minority girls’ experiences with social support organizations as the role of intersectional identity factors may already shape their experiences and perceptions. For example, previous research has shown that this population is less likely to trust judicial or governmental social systems due to a history of negative interactions linked to systemic, institutionalized racism (Cooper, 2013; Nicolaidis et al., 2010).

Despite their significance, there is still a paucity of literature focusing on what social networks are critical to adolescents’ who have experienced CSE (Kruger et al., 2013; Reid & Piquero, 2016). To date, no studies have explored perceptions of social networks among adolescent girls who have experienced CSE, nor has this been investigated among racial/ethnic minority girls from low resource communities. The current qualitative study aims to address this void in the literature by investigating critical social networks among racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls with a CSE history. Using Social Network Theory (SNT; Berkman & Glass, 2002), the girls’ subjective reports of their social networks and the relevance of these structures to CSE vulnerability are examined.

Section snippets

Review of the literature

Several contextual and individual-level factors contribute to adolescent girls’ CSE risk (e.g., a history of child sexual abuse, substance use and abuse, homelessness). However, interpersonal relationships with more proximal social networks such as family members (e.g., Milan & Wortel, 2015; Twigg, 2017; Williams & Frederick, 2009), peers (Dank, Khan, Downey, & Kotonias, 2014; Fogel, Martin, Nelson, Thomas, & Porta, 2017; Macias-Konstantopoulos et al., 2015; Reed, Kennedy, Decker, & Cimino, 2019

Research design overview

The current study’s data draws from the data corpus of a more extensive qualitative study examining important formal and informal social networks, perceptions of trafficking, and future goals among adolescent girls identified as being at-risk or previously engaged in CSE. The data for this study is comprised of a portion of interviews from the broader study and were purposefully selected as it bests addresses our interests in the perceptions of social support held by adolescent girls who have

Participant recruitment and selection

A university’s Institutional Review Board approved the overall project (IRB#18-0201). As part of the existing intake packet given to clients at the organization, participants were given parental and adolescent consent forms, or adult consent forms if they were over the age of 18, for the project as a whole. Existing clients at the organization and their parents or caregivers were recruited and given consent forms by their assigned case manager during their regularly scheduled meetings. Flyers

Data collection procedures

The first author conducted the individual interviews during normal group activities at the center. To ensure confidentiality, the participant’s assigned case manager would request them to come to a private office where the interview would take place. The case manager would leave the room during the interview. As clients typically have private meetings with their case managers and other staff, this method was chosen so that others attending the center would not be aware that an interview was

Data-analytic strategies

Data collection occurred prior to data analysis and was analyzed using the thematic analysis (TA) method. TA is the process of identifying patterns or themes within qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This method was appropriate, given the study design. The goal of TA is to identify latent themes, which focus on the examination of the underlying ideas, assumptions, and conceptualizations of participant’s ideologies (Braun & Clarke, 2006). A six-phase guide to TA framed our approach. In

Findings

The results presented here are organized around two major themes that emerged from the data: a) the social networks perceived as influential in participants’ daily lives and (b) if these social networks are perceived as having positive or negative characteristics (see Table 1). These are both discussed below. As the authors sought to view these networks through the lens of SNT, a modified version of Berkman and Glass (2002) original model was updated to depict these social networks and the

Discussion

This qualitative study utilized SNT to examine perceptions of important social networks and their characteristics among low resource, racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls who have a CSE history. Our findings provide information about which members of adolescent girl survivors’ social networks are perceived as important and the characteristics that shape these perceptions as either negative or positive. When examined as a whole, participants provided more richly informative data when asked to

Limitations

Although this study provides preliminary insights into adolescent CSE survivors’ perspectives on their social networks and how these networks’ characteristics may be related to their CSE vulnerability, some limitations must be considered. While rich in information, qualitative methodology limits our ability to draw causal conclusions and generalize to other adolescents with a CSE history in other contexts. The findings reflect a unique group of low resource, racial/ethnic minority adolescent

Conclusion

Despite the limitations, these findings illustrate the importance of understanding the social networks that adolescent survivors of CSE interact with within their lives. Drawing upon SNT frameworks, the study results highlight positive and negative social networks and their defining characteristics as described by racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls with a history of CSE. When taken together, this research points to key social networks for these racial/ethnic minority adolescent girls’ and

Declaration of Competing Interest

We have no conflicts of interest disclose.

References (46)

  • J.A. Cohen et al.

    Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for commercially sexually exploited youth

    Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma

    (2017)
  • J. Connolly et al.

    Social development: Relationships in infancy, childhood, and adolescence

    (2011)
  • T.A. Cooper

    Racial bias in American foster care: The national debate

    Marq. L. Rev.

    (2013)
  • D.W. Cox et al.

    Linking partner emotional support, partner negative interaction, and trauma with psychological distress: Direct and moderating effects

    Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

    (2016)
  • M. Crespo et al.

    Memory and narrative of traumatic events: A literature review

    Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy

    (2016)
  • E.J. Dalton et al.

    Nurturing connections in the aftermath of childhood trauma: A randomized controlled trial of emotionally focused couple therapy for female survivors of childhood abuse

    Couple and Family Psychology Research and Practice

    (2013)
  • M. Dank et al.

    Estimating the size and structure of the underground commercial sex economy in eight major US cities

    PsycEXTRA Dataset

    (2014)
  • R. Epstein et al.

    Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of Black girls’ childhood

    SSRN Electronic Journal

    (2017)
  • Florida Department of Children and Families

    Florida department of children & families annual human trafficking report

    (2019)
  • Florida Department of Education

    Child human trafficking

    (2019)
  • K.F. Fogel et al.

    “We’re automatically sex in men’s eyes, we’re nothing but sex…”: Homeless young adult perceptions of sexual exploitation

    Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma

    (2017)
  • P. Fomby et al.

    Race/ethnic differences in effects of family instability on adolescents’ risk behavior

    Journal of Marriage and the Family

    (2010)
  • L.B. Gerassi

    Experiences of racism and racial tensions among African American women impacted by commercial sexual exploitation in practice: A qualitative study

    Violence Against Women

    (2019)
  • Cited by (2)

    View full text