Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Julie Lindahl

Abstract

Human trafficking involves the commercial exploitation of others for labor or sexual purposes and is underreported, underdetected, and underprosecuted. Vicarious trauma is described as negative reactions to working with individuals experiencing complex trauma and includes changes in helping professionals’ self and disruptions in cognitive schemas, identities, memories, and belief systems about others and the world. Many researchers have explored various aspects of human trafficking and secondary trauma in trauma-exposed helping professionals, but there is a dearth of qualitative literature that explored vicarious trauma in human trafficking victim service providers. The research question and purpose of this qualitative, interpretative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of human trafficking victim service providers who have previously experienced vicarious trauma, through the use of seven semistructured interviews and Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method of analysis. The self-determination theory, which seeks to explain human motivation, was used to explore why these helping professionals continued to work in the victim service profession. Findings indicated human trafficking victim service providers experienced vicarious trauma that include the impact of vicarious trauma experience, experiences with vicarious trauma, coping strategies to manage vicarious trauma, recommendations and strategies for employers and organizations, and motivating factors to remain in the victim service profession. This research has implications for positive social change in that gaining an understanding of vicarious trauma in helping professionals may support victim-survivors, victim service providers, victim service organizations, and the community as a whole.

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