Identifying service needs and service gaps for sexually exploited/trafficked persons in Missouri

2020 ◽  
pp. 146801732091937
Author(s):  
Erica Koegler ◽  
Kathleen M Preble ◽  
Sarah M Tlapek
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Trafficking Victims

Summary The U.S. Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act of 2000 established specialized victims’ services and law enforcement directives to protect victims/survivors of sex trafficking through investigation and aftercare services. Yet, gaps remain in our understanding of services needed and the best approaches to improve outcomes. Using cross-sectional electronic survey data from 107 service providers to human trafficking victims across Missouri, this study examines (1) victims’ service needs, (2) agencies’ ability to provide services, (3) victim sub-populations that agencies are able to serve, and (4) the rural/urban availability of anti-trafficking services. Findings Service providers, including social workers, counselors, law enforcement, and medical professionals reported that the most needed services for victims included case management, counseling, crisis services, shelter, and medical assistance. However, out of 15 possible victim services, only two were provided in-house by the majority of agencies. Additionally, respondents identified populations they were frequently unable to serve including incarcerated victims, tribal victims of violence, and refugees and immigrants. Urban counties were served by a significantly higher mean number of respondents compared to rural counties. Applications Findings raise concerns that some of the most critical services needed for best practice response may not be easily accessible for victims, particularly in rural regions. In addition, many providers are tasked with addressing multiple service needs with limited resources. Efforts to increase cross-discipline training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and funding for basic services are needed to ensure adequate and accessible services for survivors. Recommendations for future research and coordination of an effective response are noted.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service Providers’ Perspectives on Nigerian Immigrants’ Domestic Violence Experiences

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780122095426
Author(s):  
Ijeoma Nwabuzor Ogbonnaya ◽  
Olufunmilayo Ibitola Fawole ◽  
Cynthia Fraga Rizo
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Nigerian Immigrants ◽  
Related Service ◽  
Controlling Behavior

We investigated 13 domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault agency directors’ perspectives regarding Nigerian immigrants’ experiences of violence, DV-related service needs, and best strategies for providing those needs. Directors across five U.S. states were surveyed. Descriptive analyses showed the most common DV types were controlling behavior and cultural/traditional. The most important DV support needs were informational, informal, and legal. Formal support from DV agencies, support groups, and law enforcement was rated the most helpful strategies. Participants wanted to learn more about Nigerian immigrants’ DV experiences. Findings highlight implications for the development of Nigerian-specific DV services.

Trauma Bonding Perspectives From Service Providers and Survivors of Sex Trafficking: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802098554
Author(s):  
Kaitlin Casassa ◽  
Logan Knight ◽  
Cecilia Mengo
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Western Country ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Trafficking Victims ◽  
Trauma Bonding ◽  
Prior Trauma

A trauma bond is an emotional attachment between an abuser and victim. Trauma bonds in sex trafficking compel victims to submit to continued exploitation and protect the trafficker. This scoping review examines trauma bonds in sex trafficking situations, its conceptualizations, and key characteristics. Ten databases were searched using sex trafficking AND trauma bonding–related terms; sex trafficking AND Stockholm syndrome, attachment, coercion, and manipulation. Articles were included if they featured trauma bonding, were published in English after 2013, or featured sex trafficking victims or traffickers in a Western country. Fifteen articles were included. The features of trauma bonding identified in these articles were (1) imbalance of power that favors trafficker, (2) traffickers’ deliberate use of positive and negative interactions, (3) victim’s gratitude for positive interactions and self-blame for the negative, and (4) victim’s internalization of perpetrator’s view. We also identified four aspects related to trauma bonding: (1) prior trauma made victims vulnerable, (2) victim’s feelings of love remained even after exiting trafficking, (3) love is why victims do not prosecute traffickers, and (4) traffickers’ intentional cultivation of the trauma bond. No article indicated how trauma bonds could be severed and replaced with healthy attachments. These findings reveal the need for practitioners and law enforcement and criminal justice professionals to address trauma bonding in both trafficking and posttrafficking situations. The findings also represent potential targets for urgently needed interventions that promote the replacement of trauma bonds with healthy attachments.

scholarly journals Access to and adequacy of psychological services for adult patients in UK hospices: a national, cross-sectional survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy McInnerney ◽  
Bridget Candy ◽  
Patrick Stone ◽  
Nicola Atkin ◽  
Joana Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
National Level ◽  
Psychological Support ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Adult Patients ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Facilitators And Barriers ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background Providing psychological support to people living with terminal illness is a fundamental part of hospice care. Recent research on delivery of psychological services in hospices in the United Kingdom (UK) on a national level, including inequalities or variation in practice, is limited. A nationwide survey will highlight any differences in provision and in doing so help focus future research and inform best practice both within the UK, and internationally. The specific objectives of this survey are to (1) chart the types of psychological support available to adult patients in hospices in the UK in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence model; (2) explore how services are organised; and (3) gather service perspectives on adequacy of care, and facilitators and barriers to appropriate practice. Methods A cross-sectional online survey emailed to adult hospices in the UK in November–December 2019. One staff member involved in the delivery and/or organisation of psychological support was invited to participate per hospice. Of 193 invited hospices, 116 took part. Results Sixteen percent rated their hospice psychological service as wholly adequate. The majority reported that services can access specialist professionals, but many relied on external referrals. Barriers to best practice included funding and staff capacity; facilitators included clear referral structures, audit and appropriate needs and outcome assessments. Conclusions Access to psychological professionals has improved since the last survey 15 years ago, but the majority of responders felt their overall service was not wholly adequate. Basic emotional support is largely felt to be sufficient, but our results indicate a need for improvements in access to more specialist care. Partnerships with external mental health services may be key. Our findings highlight core facilitators and barriers to providing good psychological care at the end of life that should be considered by services both within the UK and on an international level.

Motivational interviewing with individuals at risk of sex trafficking

2020 ◽  
pp. 146801732091985
Author(s):  
Lara B Gerassi ◽  
Karyn Esbensen
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Motivational Interviewing ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Commitment To Change ◽  
Sex Trading ◽  
Midwest Region ◽  
Provided Examples

Summary Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based practice designed to collaboratively strengthen a person’s commitment to change. Used in a wide variety of practice settings, motivational interviewing is recommended for use with individuals who are at risk of sex trafficking when discussing sex trading or relationships with potential traffickers. However, little is known about the uses of motivational interviewing with this population in practice. The current study examined whether and how social workers who encounter individuals at risk of sex trafficking use motivational interviewing. We explored perceptions of motivational interviewing use, applicability, and engagement practices by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 24 hour service providers in a Midwest region. Findings Practitioners discussed a wide variety of perceptions of motivational interviewing, ranging from completely unfamiliar, to inapplicable to their service population, to favoring its use. Those who did implement motivational interviewing described challenges to engagement with this population and provided examples in which they did not validate the clients’ perceived benefits of situations that enhanced their risk, a principal tenant of motivational interviewing. Such actions may have contributed to practitioner-client discord and ultimately reduced clients’ engagement. Applications Providers who encounter sex trafficking in practice should be trained in the use of motivational interviewing and applicability, specifically regarding how to validate the client’s internal arguments for and against sex trading and related behaviors. Future research should continue to understand whether and how motivational interviewing can be adapted for transient populations, and continue testing the efficacy of motivational interviewing with these populations.

Moving Toward Critical Consciousness and Anti-Oppressive Practice Approaches With People at Risk of Sex Trafficking: Perspectives From Social Service Providers

Affilia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 088610992110255
Author(s):  
Lara B. Gerassi ◽  
L. B. Klein ◽  
Maria del Carmen Rosales
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Native American ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Service Providers ◽  
Latino People

Whether and how social service providers use practice strategies that address racism is critically understudied, particularly with people who are at risk of sex trafficking. The purpose of this article is to understand (1) the perceptions of racial disparities in sex trafficking (as learned from sex trafficking education), and (2) the strategies used to address racism in practice (color-evasiveness, anti-oppressive practice [AOP]). We used a directed content analysis approach to analyze 24 semistructured, in-depth interviews of providers who knowingly encounter sex-trafficked young people in a majority white region of a Midwestern state (census indicates that minority populations include African American, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino people). Findings suggest that providers perceived sex trafficking education (e.g., trainings they attended) as predominantly focused on economic standing and family risks, rather than racial disparities and roles of structural racial oppression. They also experienced challenges in naming the racial identities of clients and addressing racism in practice. Implications for implementing critical consciousness and AOP strategies as well as future research directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Formal compensation practices in family SMEs

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneleen Michiels
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communication Device ◽  
Family Smes ◽  
Business Practitioners

Purpose By investigating the use of formal compensation practices in family small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the purpose of this paper is to provide important new insights in these issues for academics, as well as family business practitioners, prospective applicants and financiers of family businesses. Moreover, this study includes a contingency that allows to explore heterogeneity across family businesses in their use of formal compensation practices: the CEO type. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 124 small- and medium-sized Belgian family businesses to explore the use of formal compensation practices is analyzed by the author. Findings The results support the hypothesis that family firms with a family CEO adopt significantly less formal compensation practices than their counterparts that are led by a non-family CEO. Research limitations/implications Generalizing the findings of this study must be taken with care, as the findings are based on a cross-sectional sample of family SMEs in one country, Belgium. Future research can build on these findings with studies on larger samples in other countries. Practical implications This study may be interesting for family business practitioners and consultants, as it provides insight in the actual use of formal compensation practices that are recommended as a best practice in numerous practitioner handbooks. Also, the results of this study might be important for prospective applicants and financiers, since the compensation system is an important communication device to signal legitimacy to external stakeholders. Originality/value Compensation issues are among the main challenges SMEs, especially family firms, face. Despite the clear importance of this matter, academic interest has been rather limited. This paper therefore displays sound descriptive survey results and empirically investigates the determinants of the use of formal compensation practices in Belgian family SMEs by distinguishing between different types of family businesses.

Organizational-Level Characteristics in Right-Wing Extremist Groups in the United States Over Time

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Asal ◽  
Steven M. Chermak ◽  
Sarah Fitzgerald ◽  
Joshua D. Freilich
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Single Point ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Extremist Groups

This study compares the organizational-level variables of violent and nonviolent far-right extremist groups. This study makes an important contribution by coding for attributes for each specific year that an organization existed. Prior research has only examined organizational characteristics at a single point of time. Our strategy here better specifies differences between violent and nonviolent extremist groups. We used a pooled cross-sectional time series analysis using logistic regression because our dependent variable is dichotomous (the organization used violence this year vs. it did not). We clustered on the organization and we included dummy years to control for time series effects. We also included a lagged variable if the organization used violence in the year before. We found that organizations were more likely to use violence if they were previously involved in violence, had multiple alliances with other extremist groups, had a large membership, had weak or decentralized leadership or a strong ruling council, and advocated for inherent racial or ethnic superiority. These results have important implications for law enforcement and future research on extremism and violence.

scholarly journals Support services for people who have undergone treatment for head and neck cancer: an approach to evaluating services

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Ann Richardson ◽  
Pauline Barnett ◽  
Liz Horn ◽  
Kate Reid ◽  
Wendy Mann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head And Neck Cancer ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Neck Cancer ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Health Service Providers

The purpose of this qualitative research was to (1) determine whether support services for people who have undergone treatment for head and neck cancer in Canterbury, New Zealand, align with current national and international guidelines and recommendations for best practice, (2) investigate the views of consumers and health service providers, about current support services and service needs, (3) develop recommendations for a coordinated support service. Interviews with consumers and with service providers, including multidisciplinary team members, were undertaken to collect information about support services for people with head and neck cancer in Canterbury. The analysis was undertaken in two stages. First, information was compared with current guidelines, and second, transcripts of interviews were analysed thematically, using a general inductive approach, to understand any issues arising for both consumers and providers. Comparison with guidelines identified many strengths and a few limitations of the current service compared with international best-practice. A number of other issues arose from the thematic analysis which suggested potential areas for improvement. Recommendations were made to support a best-practice, evidence-based coordinated support service for people with head and neck cancer in Canterbury. The method used to evaluate this service could be used in the evaluation of other intersectoral, multidisciplinary health services.

Patient involvement in quality management: rationale and current status

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Groene ◽  
Rosa Sunol
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Patient And Public Involvement ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Single Strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review how patient and public involvement (PPI) can contribute to quality improvement functions and describe the levels of PPI in quality improvement functions at hospital and departmental level in a sample of European hospitals. Design/methodology/approach – Literature review and cross-sectional study. Findings – PPI takes multiple forms in health care and there is not a single strategy or method that can be considered to reflect best practice. The literature reveals that PPI can serve important functions to support quality improvement efforts. In contrast, the assessment of actual PPI in quality improvement shows that PPI is low. Research limitations/implications – Findings are not representative of hospitals in the EU. Practical implications – A diverse set of methods and tools that can be employed to realize PPI. Service providers should consider PPI at all stages, in particular in setting quality standards and criteria and in evaluating the results. Originality/value – Contextualization of empirical findings with case studies from the literature that inform further practice and research on PPI.

The emotional dimension of the consumption of luxury counterfeit goods: an empirical taxonomy

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonidas A. Zampetakis
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Counterfeit Goods

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a consumer taxonomy based on experienced emotions during non-deceptive counterfeit consumption situations, which could be useful for public policy makers, marketers, and anti-counterfeiting service providers trying to devise strategies so as to inhibit the problem of counterfeit consumption. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a questionnaire survey/analysis of a sample of 312 randomly selected consumers. Surveys were administrated individually to consumers, through personal contact by the study authors. Data analysis was conducted in three steps: first, descriptive analyses; second, analysis of variance; and third, hierarchical cluster analysis. Findings – Results suggest that during non-deceptive counterfeit consumption situations, consumers experience complex emotions including both positive and negative affect. Furthermore, four different subgroups of consumers experienced relative specific but different emotional reactions. Research limitations/implications – The reported research relied on self-reports and on a sample from Greek consumers. Moreover, data were cross-sectional and alternatives relationships may exist. Future research should be multinational and longitudinal to test the assumptions of the present study and should encompass variables of actual emotions felt during non-deceptive counterfeit consumption situations. Practical implications – Results suggested that four different subgroups of consumers experienced relative specific but different emotional reactions. As a result, the study may help marketers and anti-counterfeiting service providers to establish more refined and more effective marketing strategies. Originality/value – Results of the present research are original and unique and provide new insights for marketing managers in their efforts to decrease counterfeit consumption of their products.

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