Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List

Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until December 18, 2027

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Invisible Chains: Exploring Survivors’ of Sex Trafficking Experiences of Trauma Bonding in a Human Trafficking Court in a Midwestern State

Casassa, Kaitlin
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6263-4119
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1669199741839083

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.
Among the many issues facing sex trafficking survivors, the bonds they develop to their traffickers or other perpetrators are one of the most complex and least understood concerns. In part due to the sensitive quality of the issue at hand and the often-hidden nature of the population, too few studies have sought to give voice to survivors themselves and their own experiences with trauma bonding. It is important to hear from survivors directly about how trauma bonds are formed and how they manifest, and most importantly, how individuals can sever these bonds and experience healing and freedom from a life of exploitation. Furthermore, little research has examined survivors’ experiences in human trafficking specialty docket courts. Trauma bonds likely affect survivors who are involved in these courts, but no prior research has sought to explore how these survivor-participants experience these bonds. This study sought to fill these gaps by seeking to understand how survivors have experienced trauma bonding, how they have experienced healing from trauma bonding, and how their participation in a human trafficking specialty docket has affected their healing from trauma bonding. This phenomenological study seeks to center survivors’ lived experiences and to prioritize and honor survivors’ voices. The sample consisted of 19 female survivors of sex trafficking who were all participants in or graduates of a human trafficking specialty docket. The first research question was: How have survivors of sex trafficking experienced trauma bonding? Two themes emerged from the data. The first theme is the source of the trauma bond. Participants in the focus groups and interviews discussed in depth with whom they had trauma bonds with. The second theme is aspects of trauma bonds, which included three subthemes. Specifically, survivors have experienced trauma bonds as being (a) involuntary, as having a (b) lingering power, and as consisting of both (c) love and hate. The second research question was: How have survivors of sex trafficking experienced healing from trauma bonding? Three themes emerged from the data regarding how survivors of sex trafficking have experienced healing from trauma bonds. Survivors shared that (a) building trusting and honest relationships, (b) their relationships with themselves, and (c) education all played a pivotal role in the healing they had been able to experience. The third research question was: What are the experiences of trauma bonded survivors of sex trafficking in a human trafficking specialty docket? Three themes emerged from the data. Survivors shared that (a) love and support from specialty docket staff contributed to their ability to flourish in the court program and to overcome effects of their trauma bonds. Survivors had conflicting (b) views on change the specialty docket had undergone regarding their rules and procedures, and how effective or ineffective they felt these changes were for survivors with trauma bonds. Finally, survivors expressed that how trauma bonding affects a survivor in the court program ultimately (c) depends on the individual and their willingness to change and be honest. These findings contain significant implications for theory, practice, policy, education, and future research.
Sharvari Karandikar, Dr. (Advisor)
Susan Yoon, Dr. (Committee Member)
Cecilia Mengo, Dr. (Committee Member)
210 p.
Social Work
sex trafficking; trauma bonding; Stockholm syndrome; human trafficking

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Casassa, K. (2022). Invisible Chains: Exploring Survivors’ of Sex Trafficking Experiences of Trauma Bonding in a Human Trafficking Court in a Midwestern State [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1669199741839083

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Casassa, Kaitlin. Invisible Chains: Exploring Survivors’ of Sex Trafficking Experiences of Trauma Bonding in a Human Trafficking Court in a Midwestern State. 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1669199741839083.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Casassa, Kaitlin. "Invisible Chains: Exploring Survivors’ of Sex Trafficking Experiences of Trauma Bonding in a Human Trafficking Court in a Midwestern State." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1669199741839083

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1669199741839083
© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.