NCJ Number
74733
Date Published
1978
Length
29 pages
Annotation
A study of 136 prostitutes and 133 nonprostituted female criminals examines the relationship of early home life, sexual history, pregnancy history, and criminal involvement with the development of sexual deviance.
Abstract
The general hypothesis of this study is that a significant relationship exists between deviant life experiences and present status of prostitution. It is held that certain life experiences are associated with prostitutions to the degree that may be used to develop statistical models so as to better understand the development of a deviant sexual identify and the consequent commitment to prostitution. A multivariate statistical analysis of the data was performed. Three models were developed that related prostitution to early history, sexual history, and current status. In the early history model, the presence of a broken home is shown to be related to juvenile criminal activity and prostitution, but the juvenile record is only associated with the drift towards prostitutions when early drug use is also present. In the sexual history model, subsequent relationships with the first partner in sex has a major role in a drift toward prostitution when accompanied by early deviance. Early intercourse only differentiates prostitutes from nonprostitutes in the presence of early deviance. In the current status model, there are no significant interactions between variables. The results indicate a building of negative experiences in the self-concept of juvenile female. In combination, broken home, failure to graduate from high school, and early drug use are associated with prostitution. When such combinations are added to negative sexual history, the movement of the women towards prostitution is clear. Two notes, five tables and a list of 13 references follow the text.