Socio-Emotional Projective Themes of Adolescents in Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Carly Trask-Kuchta, MA, PsyD | September 20 | 9:45-10:45 am
Topic: Research | Knowledge Level: Advanced
This presentation will review results from a qualitative research study that seeks to utilize survivors’ voices identifying their own clinical need(s). In this study, projective personality tests identified salient psycho- and socioemotional themes, which were then integrated with descriptive, demographic, and developmental information. Culture as a whole is explored and analyzed as being complicit in the existence of sex trafficking (Willis & Levy, 2002; Twill, Green, & Traylor, 2010; Crellin, 2013). The literature around this topic often lacks a focus on systemic oppression, etiology, and attachment. They instead pinpoint trauma narratives and related behaviors (Robinson & Paramo, 2007; Smith & Briscoe-Smith, 2008; Kleinschmidt, 2009; Clarke et al., 2012; Crellin, 2013; Melrose, 2013). For this study, projective personality tests and self-report rating scales were used to identify salient psycho-emotional themes from clinical populations utilizing grounded theory and codebook analysis. Twenty-three adolescents participated in this study with a mean age of 16. The study utilized archival data from 2007-2016 from comprehensive clinical neuropsychological evaluations. Data from projective personality tests were examined for qualitative themes related to socioemotional health, and a codebook was subsequently developed. Findings of this study suggest why it is important for the professional involved in a case that involves sex trafficking to prioritize the voice of the individual in front of them as opposed to seeing them as their trauma, an objectifying lens. It will challenge the learner to examine their own clinical focus, automatic associations, and desire for engagement with this population and reorient themselves to the voice of the patient.
Presentation Objectives:
· Review literature associated with sex trafficking and projective personality tests
· Discuss the implication of culture in the existence of sex trafficking and the hole in literature related to this
· Explore potential background factors, psychological vulnerabilities, and clinical challenges