This dissertation study examined the mechanisms inside and outside of school that propel and disrupt student entry to domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). Specifically, this study focused on punitive and isolating responses from school adults that push certain students away from school success and into mechanisms that lead to DMST, such as the…

This phenomenological study explores the lived experience of sexual assault survival for women in college. Through a grounding in the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology (Gadamer, 1960/2000; Heidegger, 1927/1962, 1968, 1928/1998, 1971/2001, 1950/2002), this work uncovers the lives of six sexual assault survivors who lived through rape during…

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974) requires that states receiving U.S. federal funds directed at child abuse implement mandated reporting laws. As a result, all states have adopted legislation requiring teachers and other professionals who deal with children to report suspicions of child abuse. The federal mandate for such…