HUMAN TRAFFICIKING AND EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO NGO PROGRAMS IN THAILAND by ROBERT WEBER SPIRES (Under the Direction of Diane Brook Napier) ABSTRACT In this qualitative, ethnographic case study, I examine two Thai NGO shelters/schools working with human trafficking survivors and at-risk populations of children ages 5-18. The two NGOs had a residential component, meaning that children live at the shelter, and an educational component, meaning that children are taught academic and vocational skills. Education is a key intervention in the mission of both NGOs, and education is treated as a means of preventing human trafficking and protecting human trafficking survivors from returning to exploitative situations. The controversial definition of human trafficking and the continuum of vulnerability between at-risk populations and human trafficking victims are discussed. I explored the issues of statelessness and poverty through interviews with students, teachers and staff at the NGOs. I conducted observations in the NGO settings and in the broader Thai context by using ethnographic field notes. I described changes at the NGOs over time through a detailed account of specific aspects of the NGOs. I discussed NGO efforts to reduce the vulnerability of children, and the barriers that both children and NGOs face in vulnerability reduction efforts. Findings reflected the complex and multifaceted nature of vulnerability to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation for children in Southeast Asia. Finally, I discussed the interconnectedness of global issues of migration, statelessness, poverty within the local social context. INDEX WORDS: Human Trafficking, Hill Tribe, Thailand, Burma, Border, Education, NGO, At-Risk Children, Vulnerability, Statelessness, Street Children, Vocational, Education, Undocumented Immigrants, Migration, Non- Formal Education, Southeast Asia, HUMAN TRAFFICIKING AND EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO NGO PROGRAMS IN THAILAND by ROBERT WEBER SPIRES B.S., The University of Georgia, 2004 M.A., The University of Georgia, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA HUMAN TRAFFICIKING AND EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO NGO PROGRAMS IN THAILAND by ROBERT WEBER SPIRES Major Professor: Diane Brook Napier Committee: Jay Rojewski Larry Nackerud John Napier Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2012 © 2012 Robert Weber Spires All Rights Reserved iv DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation to the teachers, staff and children at DEPDC and CPDC, who welcomed me so generously into their lives, and my wife, Amy, and daughter, Jane Claire, whose patience and support made this possible. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone at DEPDC and CPDC for allowing me the time to come into your organizations, for your overwhelming hospitality, and for the work that you do. I want to thank my beautiful wife Amy for standing by me through tough times, believing in me and supporting me through this challenging process. I would like to thank my daughter, Jane Claire, for the inspiration to continue this work. I want to give a giant thanks to my Major Professor and committee chair, Dr. Diane Brook Napier, for her tireless guidance and mentoring. Thank you for your continued support through setbacks, and your countless hours spent reading my writing. I want to give a special thanks to the other members of my committee, Jay Rojewski, Larry Nackerud and John Napier, for your valuable suggestions and your even more valuable time reading my work. I would like to thank Khun Yada at the NRCT for her help through the international research process. I want to thank Khun Sompop at DEPDC for his inspiring work and talks, and Khun Ja and Khun Toy at CPDC for giving of your valuable time and welcoming me into your organizations with graciousness. I want to thank Simon Baker for his help and support through this study, for his insight into the issues and for time out of his busy schedule to have meals and good conversations. I especially would like to thank Aor, the translator for this study, whose priceless help and insight cannot be fully described here. Without the help of Aor, this study would not have been possible. I want to also thank Claire at CPDC for helping translate, and for offering even to help on her day off. A big thanks goes to Sarah, international volunteer at DEPDC, for helping me to navigate Mae Sai and for logistical help in the research. I want to thank my middle school students for keeping me humble. Finally, vi I want to thank everyone else that I have encountered during this research project for contributing to my understanding of this complex topic. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF TABLES xi CHAPTER Page 1 THE PROBLEM 1 Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 7 Background to the Problem 8 Rationale 9 Goals for the Study 11 Objectives for the Study 12 Research Questions 13 Study Methods 15 Study Significance 15 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 18 The State of Human Trafficking Research 18 Globalization and Education 52 3 METHOD 70 Introduction 70 Design of the Study 72 viii Theoretical Perspective 74 Data Types 77 Research Settings, Sampling, Access 80 Roles of the Researcher, Subjectivity and Bias 86 Logistical Issues 88 Data Collection 92 Analysis of Data 95 Demonstrating Quality 103 Gaps in the Data 108 4 HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EDUCATION: THE CASE OF DEPDC AND CPDC 110 DEPDC’s Basic Characteristics and Features 110 CPDC’s Basic Characteristics and Features 120 Changes Over Time at DEPDC and CPDC 122 Thematic Findings 133 Gaps in the Data 185 Conclusion 186 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 187 Themes that Emerged 187 Universal Issues 198 Limitations of the Study 202 Challenges in the Field 203 Suggestions for Future Research for Myself and Others 206 ix Conclusion 209 REFERENCES 211 APPENDICES A Pilot Study report 237 A.1 Pilot Study Proposal 268 A.2 Pilot Study Forms 288 B Photo-reference Index 299 C Interview Guides for the Dissertation Study 309 D Permission Forms for the Dissertation Study 315 E Letter of Consent from Mahidol University, Bangkok Thailand 320 F Letter of Permission from NRCT to Conduct Dissertation Research 321 G Letter of Permission to Conduct Research at DEPDC 322 H Letter of Permission to Conduct Pilot Study Research 323 I IRB Continuing Review Amendment 324 J IRB Application 326 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 The revised methological ingredients for the dissertation study based on the pilot study experience 73 2 Sample open coding of interview transcripts using Microsoft Word 98 3 Sample of field notes categories 99 4 Sample of memo reflecting on interview data, from July 13, 2011 100 5 Initial sub-categorizing the problems category 101 6 Initial sub-grouping of transcripts for categories using Microsoft Word 101 7 Sample of color coding using Microsoft Word 102 8 Overall categorization of the data in Chapter Four 103 9 Map of Thailand with Mae Sai, DEPDC’s location distinguished 111 10 Schedule of the Child Voice Radio taken from a brochure (DEPDC, 2011) 113 11 Map of Thailand showing Pattaya, the location of CPDC, in relation to DEPDC 120 12 Problems theme with subcategories 137 13 Subcategories of the statelessness theme 138 14 Poverty theme with sub-themes 157 15 Other problems as a theme 165 16 Benefits for individual children provided by the NGOs 176 17 Goals of the children 182 xi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Research matrix 14 2 The number of students in the Patak Half-Day School for 2009-2011 by grade 115 3 Number of instances of themes and sub-themes by teachers and staff, and by students 135 1 CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM The connection between education and human trafficking prevention has not been clearly delineated in the literature, yet many common elements exist (Jantraka, 2001). Scholars argue that Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) working on the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of human trafficking victims need to be more closely examined for a more complete understanding of the work they are doing, the issues that they face and the needs of the organizations, as well as those served by the organizations (Laczko, 2005). I conducted this study in three consecutive summers from 2009 to 2011, and I situated my study within the context of research in the field of human trafficking. I argued for the need of more in-depth examination of the issues at work in NGO-run shelter-schools in Thailand in order to more fully understand the human trafficking and education issues within the Thai context. Introduction Human trafficking is a global issue and is claimed to be the second largest and the fastest growing, criminal activity world-wide, in terms of money and the number of criminals involved, behind illicit drugs and ahead of illicit weapons (Bales, 2005). Human trafficking is a widespread global social problem which entails force or coercion, as well as transport of people for the purposes of labor and exploitation, yet many people around the world are not even aware of the issue. The number of actual victims of human trafficking is highly contested because of the hidden nature of human trafficking (Laczko, 2005), although many scholars agree that the problem is serious and the number of victims world-wide is large (Bales, 2008; Batstone, 2007; 2 Laczko, 2005; Skinner, 2008; United States Department of State, 2010). Some estimates have the number of human trafficking victims at over 20 million people world-wide (Bales, 2005).