Under their “control”: Perceptions of Traffickers’ Power and Coercion Among International Female Trafficking Survivors During Exploitation

Despite an increase in knowledge about human trafficking, little is understood about interpersonal power dynamics between traffickers and their victims; particularly in relation to coercion. Understanding victims’ perceptions of power is critical to developing trauma informed, targeted services for prevention, intervention, and aftercare services for survivors. This paper explores human trafficking victims’ (n = 31; adult, female, international) perceptions of traffickers’ interpersonal social power as influenced by prior entrapment factors and traffickers’ characteristics during the controlling period of the exploitation, the “maintenance phase”. Findings from this study reveal that entrapment factors and shared characteristics between victims and traffickers influenced perceptions of specific kinds of power. Moreover, findings suggest that more investigation is need to explore how much influence dynamics outside of the trafficking relationship (i.e., social and environmental factors) have on victims’ perceptions of traffickers’ power. Further, results suggest a need for anti-trafficking professionals to be particularly cognizant that victims may perceive individuals in positions of power such as social service providers and law enforcement, as similar to their traffickers.     

‘Blackberrying in the Sun’? Modernism and the Ageing Woman in Rhys’s Good Morning,Midnight, Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and Sackville-West’s All Passion Spent

Jean Rhys, Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West break with tradition in re-envisioning the aging woman. No longer content with representing the forlorn dowager or the redundant females of Gaskell’s Cranford, these writers challenge earlier representations while also confronting modernism itself. Instead of focusing on youth, they ‘make it [modernism] new’ by carefully detailing the various ways ageism and sexism make us ‘the other’, as they speak out against the interlocking oppressions of ageism and sexism. Whereas Rhys underscores what it means to be an impoverished, aging woman, Woolf and Sackville-West shift their concerns to the ways in which their characters come to terms with aging. For Woolf, there is both a sense of mourning and a sense of celebration as Clarissa attempts to unite her world through her ‘offering’ of parties that ‘defy’ the Gods. In contrast, Sackville-West’s dutiful Lady Slane claims her independence for the first time in her life, as she refuses the ways in which her children infantilize her.     

The ‘shared workplace’ agenda in Northern Ireland: lessons from local government

The study considers the ‘Shared’ Workplace agenda in Northern Ireland, which is a significant aspect of the reconciliation process. Our emphasis is on the capacity of a wide group of work-based social identifications to affect, limit, and frustrate this policy. Specifically, we address the impact of spatial and functional factors as well as occupational and professional characteristics through fieldwork in three local authorities. Interviews were held with a cross section of 65 subjects, each of whom had either been employed by or worked in partnership with one of these authorities. Our study thus contrasts with much of the literature on Northern Ireland, which is concerned with the impact of Protestant/Catholic or Unionist/Nationalist identities on such reconciliation processes in the workplace and more widely. This approach enables us to develop insights about implementation of such agendas, specifically concerning Northern Ireland and other deeply divided societies. In the conclusion, connections are also made between our findings and consociational forms of governance.     

Gangs,Gender, and Violent Victimization

Gang scholars have recently turned their attention to a unique and underdeveloped line of inquiry: the victimization of gang members. However, the gang-victimization link remains unclear, especially in terms of how gang men and women are violently victimized in different—or similar—ways. Using a sample of 2,345 adult jail inmates incarcerated in Florida (ages 18–84), this study explores the role of gender in terms of (1) the forms of violent crimes gang members experience more than nongang members, (2) who victimizes gang members, and (3) if gang members’ risky lifestyles explain victimization risk. Findings reveal more similarities than differences among gang men (n = 300) and women (n = 53). Gang men and women are generally victimized by the same violent crimes, and while the offenders who target gang members vary, there are no significant gender differences. Female gang members were significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted by members of their own gang and nonmembers (compared to members of rival gangs). The gang-victimization link remains significant for both men and women even after accounting for demographic characteristics, gang membership, and risky lifestyles—including violent offending.     

Maintaining neutrality in the Minister's office

How do non-partisan advisors in Ministers’ offices maintain political neutrality while immersed in a highly politicised environment? Private Secretaries are ubiquitous non-partisan public service representatives in the political environment of Ministers’ offices. There has been significant research undertaken the role of political advisors in Ministers’ offices, yet the contribution of these non-partisan advisors has not yet been described in academic literature. The risk of Private Secretaries being overly responsive to politicians and undertaking political tasks rather than maintaining neutrality is ever present. Further, they must actively manage the risk of free and frank advice being obstructed by political advisors. This article presents views about political neutrality gleaned from interviews with Private Secretaries who have worked in Ministers’ offices in New Zealand during the period of 1997–2018. It presents new insights into the tensions within a key setting of the core executive.     

Profiles of Problematic Behaviors Across Adolescence: Covariations with Indicators of Positive Youth Development

Previous analyses of data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD) have examined concurrent trajectories of positive development and risk/problem behaviors among adolescents, finding complex and not necessarily inverse relationships among them. In this article, we expand on prior research by employing a person-centered approach to modeling risk behaviors, assessing development from approximately 6th grade through 12th grade among 4,391 adolescents (59.9 % female). Latent profiles involving the problematic behaviors of delinquency, depressive symptoms, substance use, sexual activity, disordered eating behaviors, and bullying were then assessed for concurrent relationships with the Five Cs of PYD: Competence, Confidence, Character, Caring, and Connection. We found six latent profiles, based primarily on mental health, aggression, and alcohol use, with significant differences in Confidence levels among many of the profiles, as well as some differences in the four other Cs. We discuss directions for future research and implications for application to youth policies and programs.     

Book reviews

The Afterlife of Property: Domestic Security and the Victorian Novel, by Jeff Nunokawa. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Review of Scenes of Seduction: Prostitution, Hysteria and Reading Difference in Nineteenth‐Century France, by Jann Matlock (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994)