Social construction and the diffusion of anti‐trafficking laws in the U.S.

Abstract

Human trafficking is a compelling and persistent problem that has attracted a great amount of attention among political leaders, government institutions, NGOs, and nonprofit organizations. While there is consensus that trafficking necessitates a multipronged policy response commonly known as the "3Ps" (prosecution, protection, and prevention), anti-trafficking policies diffused across U.S. states in a piecemeal fashion. In this paper, we explore the fragmented diffusion of the different types of anti-trafficking laws. Drawing from social constructivist approaches, we posit that the differential diffusion rates depend on the social construction of the target population and policy intention of the law. Using event history analysis, we examine the diffusion of 14 types of human trafficking laws throughout the U.S. during 2003-2013. We find strong support for our hypotheses and show substantial differences in the rates at which prosecution, protection, and prevention-related laws diffuse.

The People’s Intervention: How #BlackLivesMatter Circumvented a Culture of Congruent Criminal Justice Policies in American States

“…States are also likely to mimic those that are ideologically similar. Blanton and Jones (2021) find similar effects in the diffusion of anti-trafficking laws. However, they also find that noncongruent policies diffuse much slower than congruent policies.…”

“…Aside from a few articles, the literature pays little attention to how noncongruent policies take shape (see Blanton and Jones 2021;Boushey 2016). Even fewer explore the potential for marginalized groups to initiate noncongruent change amidst a culture of congruence (i.e., Taylor 2016).…”

Editorial Introduction: Contributing to the policy process literatures

“…These findings add to the growing literature on the role of racial identity in policy feedback (see Michener, 2019) and contribute to the social construction and policy feedback literature by identifying a citizen-led pathway to change in the social construction of target populations. Blanton and Jones (2023) use the social construction framework in a different (but similarly compelling) manner to understand policy diffusion in their article, "Social Construction and the Diffusion of Anti-trafficking Laws in the US." Focusing on human trafficking laws, they posit that differential diffusion rates of anti-trafficking laws-with varying degrees of emphasis on the prosecution of traffickers, protection of victims, and prevention of trafficking-depend on the social construction of the target population.…”

“…Blanton and Jones (2023) use the social construction framework in a different (but similarly compelling) manner to understand policy diffusion in their article, “Social Construction and the Diffusion of Anti‐trafficking Laws in the US.” Focusing on human trafficking laws, they posit that differential diffusion rates of anti‐trafficking laws–with varying degrees of emphasis on the prosecution of traffickers, protection of victims, and prevention of trafficking–depend on the social construction of the target population. Using event history analysis, the authors examine the diffusion of 14 types of anti‐trafficking laws throughout the United States between 2003 and 2013.…”

Editorial introduction: Exploring the frontier of policy theory research

“…The Social Construction Framework (SCF) suggests that the public rewards policymakers for distributing benefits and burdens to target populations (Blanton & Jones, 2023; Maltby & Kreitzer, 2023). In the lead article “Policy design receptivity and target populations: A social construction framework approach to climate change policy,” Koski and Manson (2024) investigate how public receptivity to policy design varies with target population choice.…”