Date of Conferral

10-13-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Andrea Goldstein

Abstract

Human trafficking continues to be a world-wide problem, despite attempts to mitigate it. Many human trafficking victims are saved each year, but many more do not make it out. When rescued, the victims of human trafficking need to be reintegrated back into society. Research on human trafficking survivors is mostly focused on female victims; there is little research focused on male victims. Due to this, the purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of men who have been through the reintegration process as children in America after they have been rescued from human trafficking. A phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experiences of men who have been through the reintegration process as children in America after being rescued from human trafficking. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five male survivors of human trafficking. By focusing instead on the reintegration experiences of young men, this study can find possible barriers that have to be overcome by the victims. Barriers that were found included feeling like an outsider, lack of privacy, and being viewed as being associated with other men that hurt female victims of human trafficking. This in turn can lead to others finding possible solutions to them. This helps create positive social change.

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