AMTA Undergraduate Student Research Award

Abstract

Status of Music Therapy for Women Who Have Been Trafficked for Sexual ExploitationABSTRACT Background: Although an increase in research and treatment models exists for women survivors of sex trafficking (Clawson, Salomon, & Grace, 2013; Johnson, 2012), a limited literature connects the needs of survivors to music therapy treatment protocols (Schrader & Wendland, 2012). Literature on the effectiveness of music therapy with populations displaying similar symptoms (Amir, 2004; Bensimon, Amir, & Wolf, 2012) suggests that treatment involving music would potentially benefit survivors of sex trafficking.Related Literature: As victims of trafficking, the women are psychologically and physically enslaved. Once rescued, they are in desperate need of trauma-informed aftercare based on neurobiological research that appropriately treats each survivor's complex needs (Clawson, Salomon, & Grace, 2013). In particular, Pbst-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety are core problems.Objective: The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the status of music therapy with women who have been trafficked, focused in the following ways: (a) Are music therapists working with this population? (b) What are the complex needs identified in the literature? (c) How are music therapists addressing the needs identified in the literature? (d) Does treatment support a neurobiological approach? and (e) What support do music therapists need to work with this population?Methods: Based on a review of the literature, a list of 18 observed needs for the women was compiled and a 20-item questionnaire was designed and distributed via SurveyMonkey. The questions primarily involved rating scales that requested music therapists working with the population to identify information about observed needs, employed music experiences, treatment focuses, and materials they consulted or needed. Participants were sent an e-mail asking them to verify whether they were board-certified music therapists and had worked with clients who had survived trafficking. Twelve participants met the inclusion criteria, and eleven participants completed the questionnaire (91.6% return rate). Responses were analyzed using one-way within-subject ANOVAs, follow-up dependent t-tests using the modified Bonferroni correction, and Pearson r, all were evaluated at a = .05. Two questions also required coding procedures.Resulte: Results indicated that only a few music therapists are working with the population (n = 12); the age range is 6 to 59, with most survivors between the ages of 12 and 23. Music therapists rated 90% of the listed needs as moderately important or higher, indicating their awareness of the women's needs. Some observed needs also were considered significantly more important within each domain, except for the cognitive domain: (a) emotion-experiencing anger and depression were significantly more important than guilt; (b) social -difficulty with attachment relationships and mistrust of others were significantly more important than identification with the trafficker; and (c) medical-disruption of sleep/eating cycles was significantly more important than pregnancy complications and physical injuries. All Cohen's ds supported these results. No significant differences, however, existed among music therapists' ratings of how often they use seven music experiences, f(6,54) = 1.68, p = .143, Eta2 = .16. The strong effect size suggests that differences may exist if a larger n was available. Post hoc correlations between observed needs and parallel music therapy focuses revealed eight moderately high, significant relationships at p ^ .048: difficulty learning (r = .67), delayed development (r = .82), anger (r = . …