Theories You Selected, and Explain How They

¶ … theories you selected, and explain how they provide a theoretical framework for your Final Project. Be specific, and provide examples.

In this week's Discussion, I will briefly describe the structural/cultural social theory (traditional/classical) (Tangenberg, 2005, 197). In terms of contemporary theory, we will examine a theoretical integration of ecosystems and structuration (contemporary social theory) in order to examine the issue of human trafficking (Case, 2008, 213). These theories provide a theoretical framework for the final project.

Analysis-Theoretical Examples

Due to the multi-faceted nature of human trafficking, it is necessary to examine it in terms of the old and the new slavery simultaneously. As Bales and Soodalter point out in their book, human trafficking has become a priority for the Obama administration (Bales & Soodalter, 2009, vii). For this reason, social work professionals have a window of opportunity in which to construct studies that will affect the contradictory sets of laws that deal with immigration and human trafficking. However, if we look at this malady as a result of "globalization" we miss the point. For instance, certain areas of the developing world harbor actual chattel slavery (meriting a classical structural/cultural approach) while the human trafficking of sex slaves from Eastern Europe is a more recent phenomenon which might dictate Tangenberg's ecosystems and structuration approach which would accommodate belief systems as a weapon to combat it (Case, 2008, 213) (Tangenberg, 2005, 197). Therefore, as social workers, our theoretical tool kit has to complete, hence theory from the past and from more contemporary times.

Articles in Detail-

As Case puts it succinctly, "Research that focuses on culturally motivated behaviors may increase the sense of otherness ...," hence the attendant need for structural analysis as well to grasp all of the issues (Case, 2008, 215). While Case's article deals with recidivism in a criminal context, it could be applied to other areas as well. As Dovydaitis points out, the intervention of a health care professional can break the "recidivism" of a sex slave because 28% of them see such a professional at the height of their captivity (Dovydaitis, 2011, 462).

In using the Tangenberg approach to combat trafficking, the theoretical integration of ecosystems and structuration has the potential to harness the great power of faith in the war against human trafficking. As they point out, the great social movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were largely powered by religion as a progressive force. For instance, as Tangenberg documents, scholars such as Simon in 1994 have attributed empowerment practice ideology in the context of social workers to Quaker beliefs which found God in every person as the source of this empowerment. As the 19th century progressed and reactive philosophies such as Social Darwinism arose, so did progressive religious forces such as the Social Gospel.