Permanence, Aspirations, and Pesky Grammar: Local Literacy Practices Within a Residential Facility for Trafficking Victims
Gretchen S. Goode, EdD; Sunny Wells, PhD; Kimberly Hogan, PhD, LMSW, MA; Rebecca R. Lavigne, EdD & Tommie Killen | September 20 | 11:15 am-12:15 pm
Topic: Research | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
While the body of research on effective interventions for female adolescents who experience trafficking victimization is growing, much remains unknown about literacy practices in these settings. Previous literature on female adolescents within residential care settings includes examining trafficking risk factors, treatment needs, and service delivery systems. To our knowledge, there is a lack of literature on trauma-informed literacy practices within residential care centers for adolescent victims of human trafficking. Through methodologies of walking and thinking with theory, the researchers explored the public spaces of the residency facility with the seven participants, recording literacy events and the participants’ perceptions. These posthuman and post-qualitative methodologies allowed the researchers to analyze the entanglements of local literacy events, cultural literacy practices, and care within one such facility for female adolescent trafficking victims in the Gulf South. To address the purpose, the researchers asked three research questions: 1) What are the local literacy texts of a trafficked youth residential treatment facility? 2) What are other local literacy events in the facility? and 3) What literacy practices are created by the entanglements of texts, literacy events, and the facility context? Participants included the facility’s seven leaders; data was collected in three phases of walking the common spaces. Findings include literacy practices of belonging, permanence, and remembrance; of spiritual guidance; of educational aspirations; and of individual creativity. This research sheds light into the possibilities for caring literacy practices within an alternative, residential, and educational space for recovering trafficked female adolescents.
Presentation Objectives:
• Highlight the underexplored literacy practices within residential care settings for female adolescent victims of human trafficking
• Shed light on the intricate interplay between literacy events, space, context, and care within these facilities
• Advocate for the implementation of caring literacy practices within alternative, residential, and educational spaces for recovering trafficked female adolescents
• Provide insights into how such literacy practices can contribute to the holistic recovery and empowerment of adolescent survivors