Accessing information about evidence-based practices

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© 2022 Walden University, LLC. Adapted from Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014).

Sessions: Case histories. Laureate International Universities Publishing.

Tiffani Bradley

SOCW 6311

Tiffani Bradley is a 16-year-old heterosexual Caucasian female referred to Teens First
after being arrested for prostitution. Teens First is a court-mandated teen counseling
program for adolescent survivors of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. At Teens
First, social workers provide a holistic range of services for their clients. Tiffani has been
provided room and board in the residential treatment facility and will meet with a social
worker to address her multiple needs and concerns.

Tiffani has been arrested three times for prostitution in the last 2 years. Right before her
most recent charge, a new state policy was enacted to protect youth 16 years and
younger from prosecution and jail time for prostitution. The Safe Harbor for Exploited
Children Act allows the state to define Tiffani as a sexually exploited youth and
therefore not imprison her. She was mandated to services at the agency, unlike her
prior arrests when she had been sent to detention.

Tiffani had been living with a man named Donald since she was 14 years old. She had
had limited contact with her family members and had not been attending school. She
described Donald as her “husband” (although they were not married) and her only
friend.

During intake, it was noted that Tiffani had multiple bruises and burn marks on her legs
and arms. She reported that Donald had slapped her and burned her with cigarettes
when he felt she did not behave. Tiffani has been treated for several sexually
transmitted infections (STIs) at local clinics and is currently on an antibiotic for a kidney
infection. It appears that over the last 2 years, Tiffani has had neither outside support
nor interactions with anyone beyond Donald and some other young women also being
trafficked.

Childhood and Early Adolescence

During social work sessions, Tiffani gave a rather in-depth description of her childhood.
At first, Tiffani provided a family history that was filled with only happy memories. She
remembered her life up to age 8 as filled with moments of joy. She remembered going
to school, playing with her sister, and her mother and father getting along.

As the social worker and Tiffani continued to meet, Tiffani shared what she remembered
as a gradual but definitive change in the family dynamics around the time when she
turned 8 years old. She remembered being awakened by music and laughter in the
early hours of the morning. When she went downstairs to investigate, she saw her
parents along with her uncle Nate passing a pipe back and forth between them. She
remembered asking them what they were doing and her mother saying, “adult things,”
and putting her back in bed.

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© 2022 Walden University, LLC. Adapted from Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014).

Sessions: Case histories. Laureate International Universities Publishing.

Tiffani remembered being woken up by noise several times after that and seeing her
father and her uncle passing the pipe between them. Sometimes her mother was there,
and sometimes she was not. Often when her mother was not there, Nate would see her
and ask her to come over. Her father would ask her to show them the dance that she
had learned at school. When Tiffani danced, her father and Nate would laugh and offer
her pocket change. Sometimes they were joined by their friend Jimmy.

For years, the music and noise downstairs continued, later accompanied by screams
and shouting and sounds of people fighting. One morning, Shondra yelled at Robert to
“get up and go to work.” Tiffani and Diana saw Robert come out of the bedroom and
slap Shondra so hard she was knocked down. Robert then went back into the bedroom.

Tiffani also noticed significant changes in her home’s appearance. The home, which
was never fancy, was almost always neat and tidy. Tiffani noticed that dust would
gather around the house, dishes would pile up in the sink, dirt would remain on the floor,
and clothes would go for long periods of time without being washed. Tiffani remembered
cleaning her own clothes and making meals for herself and her sister during this period.
Sometimes Tiffani and her sister would come downstairs in the morning to find empty
beer cans and liquor bottles on the kitchen table along with the pipe. Her parents would
be in the bedroom, and Tiffani and her sister would leave the house and go to school by
themselves. Tiffani was unclear if her parents were working or how the bills were paid.
Often there was not enough food to feed everyone, and she would go to bed hungry.

During one session, Tiffani described an incident of sexual abuse. One night she was
awoken by her uncle Nate and his friend Jimmy in her room. Her parents were
apparently out, and they were the only adults in the home. They asked her if she
wanted to come downstairs and show them the new dances she learned at school.
Once downstairs, Nate and Jimmy put some music on and started to dance. They
asked Tiffani to start dancing with them, which she did. While they were dancing, Jimmy
spilled some beer on her. Nate said she had to go to the bathroom to clean up. Nate,
Jimmy, and Tiffani all went to the bathroom. Nate asked Tiffani to take her clothes off so
she could get in the bath. Tiffani hesitated to do this, but Nate insisted it was okay since
he and Jimmy were family. Tiffani eventually relented and began to wash up. Nate
would tell her that she missed a spot and would scrub the area with his hands. After this
incident, others occurred, with increasing levels of molestation each time. Tiffani felt
very bad about this but had difficulty explaining why, even to herself. She was very
afraid of everyone in her family except her sister, Diana. She was also afraid that Diana
might be subjected to the same thing.

The last time it happened, when Tiffani was 14, she pretended to be willing to dance for
them, but when she got downstairs, she ran out the front door of the house. Tiffani ran
down the block, intending to go to her school because it was one of the few places she
felt safe. She said she was barefoot and in her pajamas, and it was very cold. About
halfway to her school, a car stopped, and a man inside asked her where she was going.
When Tiffani replied that she was going to school, the man said that it was the middle of

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© 2022 Walden University, LLC. Adapted from Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014).

Sessions: Case histories. Laureate International Universities Publishing.

the night. Tiffani did not want to tell him the whole story, so she told him that there was
trouble at home and she just wanted to go to school early.

Donald

The man introduced himself as Donald and asked her why she did not go to her
boyfriend’s house. When Tiffani said she did not have a boyfriend, Donald replied that if
she had a boyfriend, she would have somebody to take care of her and keep her safe
when these things happened. He then offered to be her boyfriend. Tiffani did not say
anything, but when Donald said he’d give her a ride, she agreed and got in the car.
Donald took Tiffani to his apartment, explaining that the school would be closed for
hours. When they got to his apartment, Donald fed Tiffani and gave her beer, explaining
that it would help keep her warm. Tiffani did not like the taste of the beer, but at
Donald’s insistence, she drank it. When Tiffani was drunk, Donald began kissing her,
and they had sex. Tiffani knew about sex from school and some of her girlfriends, but
she had never had it with anyone before. She was grateful to Donald because he had
helped her get away from Nate and Jimmy. Donald had also told her that he loved her
and they would be together forever. Tiffani was afraid that if she did not have sex,
Donald would not let her stay—and she had nowhere else to go.

For the next 3 days, Donald brought her food and beer and had sex with her several
more times. Donald told Tiffani that she was not allowed to do anything without his
permission. This included watching TV, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, and
eating and drinking. Donald bought Tiffani a dress, explaining to her that she was going
to “find a date” and get men to pay her to have sex with her. When Tiffani said she did
not want to do that, Donald hit her several times. Donald explained that if she didn’t do
it, he would get her sister, Diana, and make her do it instead. Out of fear for her sister,
Tiffani relented and did what Donald told her to do.

Tiffani and the social worker talked often about her continued desire to be reunited with

Donald. They discussed what Donald represented for Tiffani and why he was such an

important part of her life. She often described him as the person who “saved” her and

felt she owed much to him. She vividly remembered the fear she felt the nights Nate

and Jimmy touched her, and she was convinced they would have raped her that last

night if she hadn’t left.