
Human Trafficking Research
LATEST PUBLICATION
- Journal of Women & Criminal Justice, March 2021.Ending The Game®: A New Psychoeducational Curriculum for Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Authors: Maria Usacheva, Carrie Smalley, Nancy Hafer & Susan Brooks (University of California- Davis and University of Nebraska–Lincoln).
- In the article, ETG is praised for showing “…positive trends in improvement of regulatory capacity, relational capacity, sense of self, and future orientation.” Article Link
Research History
- 2014: In collaboration with UC Davis Northern California Training Academy, began developing participant and facilitator surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of ETG.
- 2015: Began collecting IRB-approved pre and post curriculum surveys from dozens of participants and facilitators across various demographics, collecting both qualitative and quantitative research.
- 2016: Established a 2nd research partnership with University of Nebraska, Lincoln; continued refining evaluative materials and collecting evaluations.
- 2017: Ending The Game Curriculum was named a “Promising Practice” after the first round of program evaluations. We presented the first round of findings at the Human Trafficking RADAR Conference. See presentation highlights.
- 2018: Ending The Game research team collected survey evaluations from more than 120 Ending The Game survivor-participants.
- 2019: Usacheva, M., Smalley, C., Hatton-Bowers, H., Hafer, N., & Brooks, S. (2019, March). Ending the Game: A Multi-Site Trauma-Informed Psychoeducational Curriculum for Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Poster session presented at the 2019 Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
- 2020: We collected surveys and visited several ETG Community Members- Convergence Resource Center, WI; Worthwhile Wear, PA; Jasmine Road, SC- to produce our 5 year anniversary impact video on the homepage
- Ongoing: Continue toward “Evidence-Based” qualification by evaluating findings and conducting interviews with over 1,000 trained ETG Facilitators in over 200 survivor-serving orgs across 38 states (and growing!).
What We Are Finding
What The Research is Finding…
- Reduction in AWOL behavior and recidivism to commercial sexual exploitation
- Reduction in feelings of attachment to a trafficker or the trafficking lifestyle
- Increase in knowledge about psychological coercion
- Increase in feelings of self-esteem and worth outside “the life”
This letter was written by an ETG student after completing the course.
See February 2017 ETG Program Evaluation Findings presentation.
Could your agency utilize this powerful resource?