International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 9, Issue 2 2026 62
than two generations inside the group.
Second- and multi-generation survivors typically have
not had opportunities to develop their own identities
or values independently of the group. Those who
enter HCGs as children often remain in a childlike
state with limited, if any, opportunities to think and
decide for themselves (Goldberg, 2006). This arrested
psychological development often prevents them from
maturing emotionally, and victims typically remain
anxiously group-dependent (Hassan, 2013 Jenkinson,
2008 Lifton, 1961/2014). Second- and multi-
generation members’ identities are typically more
deeply entrenched than first-generation identities,
and second- and third-generation members often
face substantial identity struggles when they leave the
group (Stein, 2016). Generally, they report feeling
tremendous shame, and they often seek therapy to
discover who they are outside the group (see Jessup,
2008, 2010).
These issues remain particularly relevant for second-,
third-, and multi-generation members who passed
through adolescence in the HCG. At approximately
age 13, adolescents typically undergo a brain transition
called apoptosis (Schore, 2012), during which the
social influence of peers becomes substantially more
important (Wilder &Woolridge, 2022). In the highly
controlled environment of an HCG, social pressures
from peers who are also members can lead to self-
sealing of the HCG identity (Lalich &Tobias, 2006
West &Martin, 1994).
HCG Trauma Bonds
Trauma bonds occur as “a psychological response
to abuse... when the abused person forms an
unhealthy bond with the person who abuses them”
through alternating terror and comfort (Medical
News Today, 2023, para. 1). Trauma bonds occur in
HCG populations (Stein, 2016) and are similar to
concepts such as psychological entrapment, coerced
dependency, distorted self-view, psychological
captivity, and trauma-coerced attachment (Doychak
&Raghavan, 2020 Raghaven &Doychak, 2015). “The
impact of trauma is psychological, neurobiological,
and psychobiological” (Carnes, 2018, p. 26), affecting
the victim’s body, mind, spirit, and relationships.
Regarding the mind and body, four key neurochemicals
are involved in trauma bonds: endogenous opioids,
dopamine, oxytocin, and corticotropin-releasing
factor (Freeman, 2017). Trauma bonding causes strong
emotional and physical attachments as individuals
facing abuse seek comfort, safety, and love (Stein,
2016). Unresolved trauma challenges one’s resilience.
It undermines the connection to the self and causes a
loss of connection to one’s identity, body, and memory
(Carnes, 2018). In particular, deleterious bonds with
HCGs may incorporate a triple bond: one with the
leader, one with peers, and one with the group itself
(Stein, 2016). Raghavan and Doychak (2015) suggest
that trauma-coerced bonding enacts an internal shift
in reality due to a deteriorating sense of self in the
HCG, as discussed above. Trauma bonding can leave
the victim believing that they are at fault for crimes
committed even while facing coercion in the HCG
some victims have testified in favor of HCG leaders or
refused to testify against them (Hassan et al., 2022).
Sex Trafficking
According to United States federal law, ST occurs
when someone uses “force, threats of force, fraud,
coercion... or any combination of such means... to
cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act”
(CSA) (Congressional Research Service, 2026, para.
2). A CSA is defined as any sex act “on account of
which anything of value is given to or received by any
person” such as money, drugs, shelter, food, or clothing
(Cornell Law School, 2026, para. 7) further, CSA can
also include prostitution and pornography (National
Human Trafficking Resource Center, 2026).
Trafficking enterprises have two main purposes: 1)
recruiting new members and 2) making money. In
these ways, trafficking can serve as a form of organized
crime (Interpol, 2023). ST disproportionately affects
women, children, immigrants, people of color, people
who identify as LGBT+, and lower socio-economic
populations (Polaris, 2026). Vulnerable populations
of girls and women make up a substantial majority of
those trafficked sexually in the United States (Polaris,
2026) however, that is not to minimize the similar
exploitation and horrors faced by men and boys. Farley
(2003) described the experience of an individual in
ST as repeated and daily “bought and sold rape” (p.
173). Common forms of ST include pornography,
illicit massage businesses, escort services, brothels

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Connie A. Mitchell |Abuses Produce Similar Psychological Effects in Survivors
or residential-based commercial sex operations,
personal sexual servitude, and outdoor solicitation.
Further, ST tourism involves an estimated 1.87 billion
“tourists” annually (Carolin et al., 2013). Although the
DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022)
does not specifically list ST as a cause of Unspecified
Dissociative Disorders, we argue, based on the
similarities demonstrated in this comparison, that ST
victims belong in this category, particularly due to the
intense level of psychological coercion, distorted self-
views, and changes in values and personality (Doychak
&Raghavan, 2020).
ST affects a staggering worldwide total of approximately
6.3 million victims, and this figure does not include
forced marriages (International Labour Organization,
2022). Additionally, ST generates approximately $173
billion in profits (Human Trafficking Statistics, 2024),
an estimate that does not include millions in revenue
from music or films which seek to glamorize ST (see
Patrick, 2014 Withers, 2017) or from websites and
books that provide guidance to new sex traffickers
(Hassan &Shah, 2019 Ivy, 2017 Petchesky, 2012
Walters et al., 2017).
Defining ST: Pimps
Many survivors of ST report control by pimps. Pimp-
controlled prostitution has three main categories:
Romeo Pimps initially come across as a boyfriend, at
least initially. CEO Pimps operate storefront businesses,
such as massage parlors or escort services, and often
hire through deception (Smith &Coloma, 2009). The
term “Gorilla Pimp” refers to the most violent and
abusive of the types of pimps, and the Gorilla Pimp
category includes gang-controlled pimping (Frank &
Terwilliger, 2017). Gang-controlled pimping can be
the most difficult to escape due to the greater number
of individuals involved in watching and controlling
the victim (Roe-Sepowitz et al., 2014a). Additionally,
when women serve as pimps, they similarly engage in
physical and psychological coercion of victims (Roe-
Sepowitz et al., 2014b).
Defining ST: Common Sex Trafficking Terminology
Common ST terminology reveals the coercive and
derogatory nature of ST. Bender (2019) described
common familial terms used in ST: “sisters,” “wife-
in-law,” and “daddy.” The perpetrator, an individual
sex trafficker, pimp or, in some cases, an entire gang,
receives financial profit from the victim’s commercial
sex work. A group of trafficked individuals living
together forms a stable. Degrading references remain
ubiquitous (bitch, hoe, and lot lizard). A bottom bitch
is the lead woman in a stable. Living out of pocket is
keeping the proceeds for oneself while participating in
a stable. A date or trick is a sale to a buyer or john.
Going automatic is to continue dating buyers to finance
the pimp while the pimp is away. A renegade is a person
dating or engaging in prostitution without a trafficker
and therefore retaining their own profits. The system
of trafficking is known as the life. Using the term “the
life” appears to indicate that this is the only way to truly
live. Square is the dull world outside of the life. This
derogatory terminology runs throughout ST.
ST and Lifton’s Criteria
Enticement by a master manipulator remains the most
frequently used recruitment strategy in ST (Farley,
2003 Patrick, 2014 Withers, 2016). All of Lifton’s
components apply. Pimps typically exert strict control
over the environment and social encounters (i.e.,
milieu control). As noted above, ST involves loading
the language and new, group-specific vocabulary,
particularly revisions of family terms such as “daddy”
and “sister.” Pimps typically demand loyalty to
themselves (i.e., demand for purity), often protecting
ST victims if and only if an ST victim conforms to
the pimp’s demands (Horning et al., 2022). Common
tactics include spying (including through phone taps),
informing, and confession (i.e., mystical manipulation
confessions). The authoritarian pimp always has the
last word and is always right (i.e., sacred science),
and this is further reinforced by pimps’ common
perceptions of their own overwhelming power: “with
young girls, you promise them heaven, and they’ll
follow you to hell” (Annitto, 2011, p. 14). Often, pimps
force or encourage drug use and other tactics that make
victims more pliable (i.e., doctrine over person). Pimps
typically present the square world outside of ST as a
dangerous place in which people do not have value
typical consequences of these malignant environments
include changes in one’s personality and values,
particularly about people inside and outside of the life
(i.e., dispensing of existence) (Doychek &Raghavan,
2020).