What is a limitation or shortcoming of the organization? What could be done or implemented by the organization to improve the services available to victims of human tr

Task Force, 2014) by multi-agencies to leverage limited resources.

5.17 Survivor-Centered Approach

Service providers are beginning to under- stand that we must employ a survivor- centered approach in planning prevention programs and when offering protection to victims of human trafficking. Specialized, innovative, and evidence-based strategies are compulsory if we are to work toward preventing human trafficking while sim- ultaneously offering protection through programs that specifically serve the needs of individuals who have been trafficked. Best practices in the service delivery sys- tem call on providers to individualize case plans and to utilize client-first, survivor- .first, or victim-centered models since each human trafficking case is uniquely differ- ent from one another and possesses in- dividual characteristics. Although these paradigms utilize various names (e.g. cli-

ent-.first, survivor-first, or victim-centered), they all encompass the philosophical principle of placing the client at the center of the decision-making process and in valuing the rights and self-deter- mination of clients. "An adaptable 'sur- vivor-first' model allows for survivors to opt in and out of services and resources as they need during times of vulnerability, while allowing them to build resilience skills during times of security and self- sufficiency" (Schwarz & Britton, 2015, p. 64). This client-first approach appreciates that "survivors move in and out of risk and security and that there is no sin- gle package of mechanisms for each sur- vivor" (Schwarz & Britton, 2015, p. 64 ).

5.18 Trust Building From the Victim's Perspective

Building trust with clients is at the bedrock in providing best practices. Vic- tims of human trafficking, regardless of whether they were native born or foreign

3. SELECTED THEORIES/ FRAMEWORKS

3 .1 A Strengths- Based Approach

Responses to and interventions with trafficked individuals must take into ac- count the wide range of complex victim- ization experiences and needs of human trafficking victims. A strengths-based ap- proach, although it is not considered a fully developed theory, is a useful founda- tion on which to base intervention with human trafficking survivors and program development. Professionals working in the human trafficking field have in- corporated the strengths-based approach because of its application and underpin- ning values (Busch-Armendariz, Nsonwu, & Heffron, 2014; Saleebey, 1996). Attor- neys, social workers, law enforcement, policy makers, and other practitioners

benefit hugely from utilizing a strength- ens-based approach that emphasizes the notion that all individuals have a wide range of capacities, skills, resources, hopes, talents, and possible futures. In a direct and intentional move away from a deficit-based model or medical model, the strengths-based perspective offers a new framework with which to view in- dividuals and their connections to social problems. Deficit-based thinking, on the other hand, defines individuals by their disease, deficit, problem, disorder, or vic- timization and presumes that problems experienced by an individual denote a de- ficiency in that person. A deficit-based model also supports the view that profes- sionals (e.g., mental health professionals or teachers) are better equipped to define the problems that face individuals than the individuals themselves.

A strengths-based approach, on the other hand, does not focus on the fixing of an individual's externally defined prob-

lem or deficit. Rather, it supports an environment in which individuals define their own needs, goals, dilemmas, and relationships with their experiences of exploitation or violence. In doing so, this approach requires that those work- ing with survivors of human traffick- ing meet on an even playing field, in a spirit of equality, and pay attention to addressing power differentials between survivor and provider. A strengths-based approach, first developed by social work, also incorporates the notion ofperson-in- environment that involves understand- ing individuals, their needs, and their be- haviors in the context of the community and environment in which they operate (Rawana & Brownlee, 2009). Importantly, this perspective does not attempt to dis- count or negate the reality of social or psychological problems faced by individ- uals-be it exploitation, violence, oppres- sion, addiction, or illness. Salee bey ( 19 9 6) notes "In the lexicon of strengths, it is as wrong to deny the possible as it is

to deny the problem" (p. 297). Strengths and resilience often emerge directly from, and/or are distorted by, social problems and experiences of violence, trauma, and oppression. And yet, our identities are not equated with the problems, trau- mas, or oppressions we face. According to Saleebey (1996), a strengths-based per- spective rejects the idea that "all people who face trauma and pain in their lives inevitably are wounded or incapacitated or become less than they might" (p. 298). Rather, it focuses on the possibility for, and commitment to, resilience and trans- formation.

~ _· _I_ ~_;_ :::·

= ·:.·—~ ,-::.,_.~— =i:::.: .. ~ ~.::.:::.-

-·-__ :::;. :=—–:::

Table 5.1 Note: "The strengths perspective in social work prac-

tice: Extensions and cautions" by D. Saleebey, Social

Work, p. 298. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University

Press. Reprinted with permission.

3.2 Trauma-Informed Theoretical Framework

A trauma-informed approach is a valu- able conceptual framework in micro-level practice. As a theory, it seems to have recently reemerged in the literature as highly relevant for working with sexual assault survivors. This approach recog- nizes the broad impact of trauma on indi- viduals, their families, and the organiza- tions that come into contact with trauma survivors. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2014) defines trauma as result- ing from "an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being" (p. 7).

Fully embracing a trauma-informed ap- proach entails recognition of the signs and symptoms of trauma in individuals, families, and those who work with them. It also necessitates the broad integration of knowledge about trauma into organiza- tional policies and procedures, in addition to active attention to the prevention of retraumatization (SAMHSA, 2014). Prin- ciples that are fundamental to a trauma- informed approach include: safety; trust- worthiness and transparency; peer sup- port; collaboration and mutuality; em- powerment, voice, and choice; and cul- tural, historical, and gender issues.

There are thorny issues in the applica- tion of these theories that are related to traumatized individuals. Victims and sur- vivors may have developed strategies to survive and cope with ongoing victimiza- tion or past abuse that may challenge pro- fessionals in the full application of these theories (Rawana & Brownlee, 2009). For example, the experience of facing chronic

trauma or persistent abuse may result in a survivor distrusting or acting defensively or angry toward those in the helping pro- fessions, including social workers, coun- selors, or law enforcement. Past experi- ences could also result in a survivor with- holding information that may be deemed as fundamental to the criminal case or to service provision. It is crucial that these responses are understood in the context of an individual's experience of abuse and the overall environment in which they live.

Additionally, responses to trauma may be considered autonomic, or uncontrol- lable, and are thought to be evolutionarily wired into us to protect our own survival. Responses to trauma often involve hor- monal fluctuations in the brain.

This is a classic example of where our body can sometimes be work- ing at cross-purposes. On the one