Using Content Analysis to Examine Human Trafficking Events

• In Event: Roundtable: Human Trafficking: Understanding Prevalence, Context, and Social Responses

Abstract

Human trafficking is an area that is not well understood due to the underground nature of the operations. Although acknowledged as a global problem requiring efforts on multiple fronts to control, only limited data exist on the prevalence and characteristics of different types of human trafficking—knowledge that could be used to inform prevention efforts. In this context, the current study proposes to identify incidents of human trafficking by searching and recording newspaper reports of arrests, convictions, and sentencing of human traffickers in the United States from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2016. Electronic databases (i.e., NewsBank, ProQuest National Newspapers Premier) will be used to analyze a total of 46 independent newspapers. Searches will be conducted using search criteria developed from previous literature of human trafficking content analyses and by adding criteria based on likely components of trafficking. Coding is based on previous literature examining human trafficking cases through content analyses and additional coding categories added newly for the current analysis. The results from this study are intended to increase existing knowledge about the nature of human trafficking and potentially yield information that is relevant to designing more specialized interventions.

Author

• Teresa C. Kulig, University of Cincinnati