Research Projects
CSE Research
The UCLA Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Research Group is committed to conducting community-driven, innovative research that aims to reduce disparities and increase access and linkage to health and social services for youth and young adults impacted by CSE. We take a multidisciplinary approach by partnering with local service providers and community members to create lasting solutions. We are committed to serving a highly vulnerable but promising group of young people through the development and dissemination of meaningful empirical data that meets their self-identified needs.
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Research Lab started in 2015 and grew out of discussions with Judge Pratt. We sought to understand some of the needs for youth impacted by CSE and the lack of data infrastructure to track outcomes and track success. Since that time, the lab has grown in terms of funding received and projects that focus on the perspectives of youth, lived experience experts and providers in the field to increase engagement and participation in care and increase health equity.
Current Research Project: My Body My Choice Study
The MBMC intervention was developed through collaborative partnership and focused on a trauma-informed and survivor-centered and led approach for delivering sexual reproductive health information to CSEY. The following were integrated into the study:
mHealth tools in the form of technology, such as mobile devices
Two rounds of the MBMC intervention with two distinct groups of CSEY ages 13 to 21 years old
Five to twelve days of curriculum participation
11 reproductive health modules
At one and three-month intervals, participants demonstrated an improved understanding and familiarity of the different concepts relating to different methods of birth control and their effectiveness. Given the dearth of available reproductive and sexual health curricula for youth with histories of commercial sexual exploitation, we believe that disseminating knowledge on our adaptation process will continue to fill a critical knowledge gap and inform future research, policy, and practice.
CSE Instagram
Juvenile Competence Study
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Kids’ Court School Competency Remediation Program on Juvenile Competency to Stand Trial and Court Related Stress. The knowledge gained from the study regarding the effectiveness of the program can potentially provide evidence that supports this program as a means of effectively remediating juvenile competency to stand trial and be utilized to insure that juveniles found incompetent to stand trial receive the same procedural safeguards as adults (as ruled in In re Gault (1967)). This study was approved on March 1, 2017. Since that time, the data has been collected on 63 participants. Our aim for the study is to collect data on 120 participants; however, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have experienced delays in the enrollment processes and accessing youth case files.
The knowledge gained from this study regarding the effectiveness of the Kids’ Court School Competency Remediation Program can potentially provide evidence that supports this program as a means of effectively remediating juvenile competency to stand trial. The Courts and Probation Department will then have an evidence-based program to utilize to help ensure that juveniles found incompetent to stand trial receive the same procedural safeguards as adults (as ruled in In re Gault (1967)). Youth may also benefit from participating in the study in two ways. First, it is hypothesized that their court-related stress will decrease after receiving the curriculum (based on previous studies). Thus, during post testing they may see that they are less anxious about going to court and feel good about it. Second, during the posttest administration of the MacCAT-CA, youth may be able to see that they have more legal knowledge and feel good about that as well.
AntiRacism Learning Groups Study
The antiracism learning group focuses on group processing and learning in parallel with individual reading and reflection. This method will facilitate relationship-building along with individual learning, reflecting, and processing.
The research study will evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of the Antiracism Learning Groups using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative assessments. Quantitative assessments will include pre- and post-intervention surveys consisting of self-report rating scales on constructs related to racism and discrimination (e.g., perceptions of racism, beliefs about race). Qualitative assessments will include focus groups and one-on-one interviews that will be conducted post-intervention and will capture participants’ perceptions of effectiveness of and satisfaction with the groups.
This intervention is designed to encourage people who experience white privilege to learn about their own participation in white supremacy. It is based on an understanding that white people are socialized to experience strong discomfort when and resistance to talking about race and racism, even though white people need to engage in this work to push forward antiracism. Because white supremacy is a fundamental organizing principle of our society, people of all races and ethnicities would benefit from engaging in deeper learning about it. Therefore, this intervention is open to people of all races and ethnicities, with a particular attention to those who experience white privilege.
ADD: Antiracism Learning Groups Resource Guide:
