Social Disorganization. Social disorganization theory argues that variables such as widespread poverty, segregation, the lack of social services, high levels of incarceration, and family breakdown lead to a breakdown in informal social control in some communities, making crime – including the prostituting of children – more likely (Xxxxxxx 1969). Essentially, breakdowns in the social structure of the community cause crime to increase generally, and the sexual exploitation of children increases in tandem. Social disorganization theory is place-based – some neighborhoods are more disorganized than others, and this disorganization has criminal implications (Xxxx and Xxxxx 2011). Youth bulge theories, for example, predict that a larger preponderance of young people is a destabilizing factor in a given society – working to increase unemployment, decrease accountability and increase violence generally (Urdal 2006, Goldstone 2002). Theories in this tradition often work in tandem with more state-oriented ones, in which children from some nations are more likely to be exploited than children from others (Xxxxx 2007, Xxxxxx 2005). Existing research indeed suggests that there are both “push” and “pull” factors that contribute to the prevalence of human trafficking (Xxxxx 2007, S.-X. Xxx 2012) on a national level. While pull factors predict what countries and communities will have the greatest demand for trafficked bodies, push factors may determine victims in that they give rise to a ready supply of vulnerable women and girls for commodification. Cho (2012) finds that the quality and strength of institutions in the home country, along with overall crime levels, is crucial and, relatedly, Xxxxx (2007) finds government corruption in the home nation to be the most predictive measure of supply of nationals to the trafficking market. He writes: This analysis suggests that reducing corruption should be the first and most effective way to reduce trafficking. In other words, potential traffickers need to understand that their government perceives trafficking as a crime and that they cannot bribe their way out of prosecution or through the border if they commit the crime. (Xxxxx 2007, 276) I posit that a trafficker-centered view may not be the only way to understand the results of this analysis. Rather, corruption, when understood broadly, represents a movement of government function from the public benefit to private interests. In those nations in which this shift is most profound, the use of gover...
