Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and
human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why they do it). The resulting conceptual framework can serve as a roadmap to guide the development of tailored assessment instruments and evidence-based treatments as well as improve community prevention and education efforts.
","abstract_html":"<p>Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and</p> <p>human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why they do it). The resulting conceptual framework can serve as a roadmap to guide the development of tailored assessment instruments and evidence-based treatments as well as improve community prevention and education efforts. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Williams, Julie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Clinical Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Christina D. Brown, Psy.D.","Kathie Bates, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:28Z","subjects":["coercion","commercial sex act (CSA)","commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)","domestic sex trafficking (DST)","force","fraud","grooming","pimp","prostitution","recruitment","sex offender","Clinical Psychology","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/739","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Christina D. Brown, Psy.D.","Kathie Bates, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Williams, Julie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-05-21T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Clinical Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["coercion","commercial sex act (CSA)","commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)","domestic sex trafficking (DST)","force","fraud","grooming","pimp","prostitution","recruitment","sex offender","Clinical Psychology","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/739"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and
human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why they do it). The resulting conceptual framework can serve as a roadmap to guide the development of tailored assessment instruments and evidence-based treatments as well as improve community prevention and education efforts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Pathways to Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Christina D. Brown, Psy.D.","Kathie Bates, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Williams, Julie"],"dc:date.available":["2023-05-21T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and
human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why they do it). The resulting conceptual framework can serve as a roadmap to guide the development of tailored assessment instruments and evidence-based treatments as well as improve community prevention and education efforts.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/739"],"dc:subject":["coercion","commercial sex act (CSA)","commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)","domestic sex trafficking (DST)","force","fraud","grooming","pimp","prostitution","recruitment","sex offender","Clinical Psychology","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"],"dc:title":["Pathways to Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Clinical Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:28Z"}