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 school-prison nexus. This study used cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and disability critical race theory (DisCrit) as lenses to make school mechanisms visible. This multiple case study used a critical phenomenological approach to understand the data participants contributed to see not only their experiences, but also considering the inequality and power that affect them. Using poetic inquiry was important to understand the experiences the participant relayed by using abstract words to convey sensory perception, and as a member check. This study illuminated participants' perceptions of what mechanisms pushed or pulled them into DMST. Further, this study, using participants' voices, made visible the contradictions in school participants believed can disrupt student entry to DMST. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]