Psychological Risk Factors for Becoming a Victim of Human Sex Trafficking

Human sex trafficking is the recruiting, transporting, harboring, or receiving of a person who is then coerced into prostitution. It is the third largest criminal enterprise in the world (FBI, 2011). The Internet has made this activity more efficient and feasible due to social networking and online classified advertisements (FBI, 2011). Further, research has shown that adolescents who engage in online risky behaviors, such as meeting people from the Internet offline, are a greater risk for becoming victims of online crimes (Berson & Berson, 2005). Several psychological factors are implicated in adolescents participating in online risky behaviors, including: low self-esteem, poor life satisfaction, and living in a troubled home (Berson & Berson, 2005). By looking at the association between online risk taking and low self-esteem, we can evaluate how some adolescents are at a greater risk for becoming victims of human sex trafficking while others are not. This study is recruiting participants aged thirteen or older via snowball sampling on the California State University Dominguez Hills campus. The survey given via online will be randomly assigned and contain four different conditions which alternate scales (Family Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction, BDI-II, Yamagashi’s, Daily Media Use, Rosenberg Self-Esteem, Online Skepticism) and vignettes. Looking at the risk factors associated with online victimization will give insight into how children, adolescents, and parents can protect themselves or their children from human sex traffickers while online. Contributing to this body of knowledge will assist policy makers and law enforcement agencies in further preventing the sexual exploitation of children.