NCJ Number
78398
Date Published
1980
Length
132 pages
Annotation
Juvenile prostitution was studied to determine the process of entrance into prostitution and to establish a factual relationship between prostitution and four crucial areas: early sexual experience, exposure to prostitution, associated criminal activity, and drug abuse.
Abstract
Samples of 136 juvenile female prostitutes and 100 juvenile females who were categorized as delinquent but were not sexually labeled were studied by means of extended interviews and psychological testing. Information was also gathered by means of field observations, network interviews, and a review of subcultural linguistic patterns. Results showed that prostitutes had learned about prostitution from family members and pimps more than did nonprostitutes. The prostitutes were clearly in a social role which placed them in a situation which allowed them to become knowledgeable about prostitution. Prostitutes also reported significantly more experiences involving violations of physical boundaries: rape, molestation, incest, coerced first intercourse, physical abuse, and pregnancy. The families of juvenile prostitutes were volatile and few were intact. While a variety of drugs were used by both samples, prostitutes had more exposure to and use of narcotic drugs. Results also indicated an interrelationship between criminality and drug abuse among prostitutes. Detailed data are provided on the samples' characteristics, including early home life, basic demographic information, sexual history, physical abuse, criminal activity, drug involvement, and entrance into prostitution. A comparison of adult and juvenile prostitution and results of discriminant analysis, psychological tests, network analysis, and linguistic analysis are also presented. The final chapter describes the entrance into prostitution as a process of drift into deviance. Tables and 68 references are provided.