NCJ Number
100704
Date Published
1986
Length
212 pages
Annotation
This book identifies and analyzes various community economic and political structures that tolerate, allow, or control prostitution.
Abstract
Models of U.S. environments for prostitution are 'laissez faire,' in which prostitution is illegal but tolerated; 'regulation,' in which it is lawful but closely monitored; 'control,' in which rigorous law enforcement suppresses obvious prostitution; and 'zoning,' in which nominally illicit prostitution is allowed but only within a circumscribed area. An analysis of prostitution in San Francisco, Nevada, Boston, and Dallas illustrates respectively the laissez faire, regulation, zoning, and control models. Under all of the models, prostitution will continue, but under varying incentives (money) and disincentives (criminal penalties). Public policy can decrease the social costs and increase the social benefits of prostitution by decriminalizing or regulating prostitution, by reassigning police priorities to types of prostitution that inflict the greatest costs, by increasing penalties for prostitutes who steal from and assault customers, and by advising citizens on how to keep prostitution out of their neighborhoods. 83-item bibliography and subject index.