Child Trafficking: A Concept Analysis

Abstract

Child trafficking is often intertwined within the public discussion of human trafficking as owning the same properties and attributes as adults who are trafficked. Yet, as the concept of trafficking is inductively explored with the specific focus related to children and youth, the published literature provides us with an increased understanding of the unique qualities that not only create an at-risk population of youth, but the descriptors of trafficking’s effect on children as its own population of victims. This article follows an evolutionary analytical process in its inductive exploration of the holistic understanding of child trafficking through a systematic search of the current literature. Through a qualitative examination of the literature, surrogate terms, attributes, antecedents, and consequences and their associated themes are identified and discussed. Finally, a theoretical definition of the concept of child trafficking is provided for the examination and discussion of continued theoretical development.