Sexual exploitation is a problem faced by women victimized by sex trafficking and are involved in the commercial sex industry as a result of limited employment options. Negative consequences associated with engaging in sex work in the United States include violent victimization, physical and mental health problems, addiction, isolation from positive social support, and economic instability. These consequences make exiting difficult, and recently Baker, Williamson, and Dalla (2010) created an integrated prostitution exiting model to help explain the exiting process, accounting for the impact of these consequences and identifying the role that failed exiting attempts play in leading women to a final exit. Currently, much remains unknown regarding the usefulness of the model and researchers have yet to explore the process of exiting from the perspective of former sex workers. This dissertation examines the process of exiting commercial sex work from the perspective of 19 adult women who exited the sex industry and had not engaged in sex work for at least two years. The goal of the study was to compare findings from these interviews to Baker et al.'s (2010) integrated model and to further understand the experience of exiting sex work. A narrative approach to data collection was taken (Wells, 2011), and individual interviews were conducted with each participant in order to elicit narratives about their experiences exiting sex work. A phenomenological approach was utilized to analyze the data (van Manen, 1990), and five overarching themes encompassing 21 subthemes emerged as key findings. Many of these themes supported the stages of Baker et al.'s (2010) model, including the experience of becoming disillusioned with the prostitution lifestyle as a precursor to successfully exiting, the likelihood that women will attempt to exit and then re-enter sex work a number of times before finally exiting, and the presence of specific barriers that inhibited the exiting process. Additional themes emerged, offering new information about the importance of involving former sex workers in treatment, the role that children, customers, and other relationships play in helping or hindering the exiting process, and the development of resiliency among women undergoing the exiting process. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge and attitudes about autism spectrum disorders among Hispanics in the Southwest. The study will also examine perceived barriers in obtaining resources and preferences in accessing health care. Participants (N = 169) were surveyed using the Autism Awareness Survey, which was developed specifically for this research. Significant differences were found between individuals with high acculturation and low acculturation in exposure to autism, knowledge about autism, perceived barriers to obtaining resources and health care, and attitudes towards people with autism. Additionally, the findings also suggest that although the surveyed population was knowledgeable about the symptoms associated with autism, less well known is the etiology and course of the disorder. The research underscores the serious need for both Spanish educational resources and Spanish-speaking health care providers to address the needs of Hispanics with regards to autism, especially with individuals with low levels of acculturation.

ABSTRACT Many foster children experience numerous placements while in out-of-home care; some up to fifteen in an 18 month period (Newton, Litrownik, & Landsverk, 2000). Placement stability is important for children to find permanent families, and for social, emotional and educational development of children. This study used the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) data set to examine foster child and caregiver characteristics, and the caregiver-child relationship as a predictor of placement stability in the long term foster care general sample. Logistic regression was performed with the Complex Samples add-on to appropriately weight the NSCAW sampling. Children who were placed in foster homes or kinship homes and who had not been returned home at the Wave 3 interview were included in the study. The sample consisting of 562 children was divided into three groups based on age: Early Group 1, childhood ages 1to 5, group 1;Group 2, Middle childhood ages 6 to 10, group 2; Group 3, Adolescence ages 11 to 18, group 3. Results are consistent with previous studies in that children in early childhood and middle childhood who were placed in foster homes were 83% and 87% less likely to achieve placement stability than children in kinship homes, respectively. In early childhood, each additional household member reduced the odds of achieving placement stability by 35%.The caregiver-child relationship did not predict placement stability.