How Do People Become Human Traffickers?
What makes exploitation possible? Join sociologist Ludmila Bogdan for a thought-provoking look at the psychology of human trafficking, power, and manipulation.
Practical information
2000 Frederiksberg
Place: CBS Library Forum
About the talk
How do people come to justify exploiting others? And what can understanding traffickers’ psychology teach us about manipulation, power and human behaviour more broadly?
Drawing on eight years of research, sociologist Ludmila Bogdan from the Department of Management, Society and Communication will share insights from her new book, Psychology of Traffickers: Insights from Romanian Prisons.
Based on extensive interviews with convicted human traffickers in Romanian prisons, the book explores how exploitation is justified, organised and sustained. Rather than portraying traffickers as simply "evil" or fundamentally different from everyone else, Ludmila Bogdan examines the psychological and social processes that make exploitation possible.
Her research sheds light not only on human trafficking, but also on manipulation, moral reasoning and the abuse of power.
The talk invites us to reflect on a broader question: how does harmful behaviour become normalised? By looking closely at the mechanisms behind exploitation, we can gain a deeper understanding of human behaviour and the ways power is exercised in everyday life.
