Date

5-22-2024

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Mollie Evans Boyd

Keywords

sex-trafficked, youth, healthcare professionals, impact, victims, survivors

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of health care professionals (HCPs) and other service providers (SPs) who work or worked with children and adolescent survivors of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Florida. The Conceptual Model for Factors Affecting Well-Being and Resilience devised by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Five Ways to Well-Being Model developed by Catherine Gilliver were used to guide this study. These models helped the researcher gain a better understanding of how participants experienced working with survivors and victims of DMST and its effect on them. Data collection was conducted through the use of an initial demographic questionnaire as well as the completion of both the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and a PTSD Symptom Checklist (PSS-I-5). Responses from these instruments helped include and exclude participants during the screening process of the study. Upon acceptance, face-to-face interviews were conducted online via Zoom and were recorded then transcribed. For data analysis, open coding was used to categorize responses into themes, and the researcher used notetaking and color coding to protect the anonymity of participants and to highlight common themes found in participants’ responses. Initial impressions were noted using memoing in addition to inductive analysis to make judgements.

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