Paradigms of Prostitution

POLICY & PRACTICE PERSPECTIVES

The progression of street prostitution is but a process perspective offered to explain the experience of street prostitutes. The findings of this study suggest that women who entered and learned the code of conduct (social adjustment stage) felt empowered by their ability to make money and financially sustain themselves. The social immersion stage saw women become immersed in their work and the lifestyle. It was not until they suffered violence at the hands of customers and/or pimps that they felt the need to use drugs beyond that of recreational use. Even Outlaws did not move from simple conversational manipulation to attempts at robbery until they had been victimized. Now we must ask ourselves, if prostitution were legal and protected by conventional society as other occupations are, would women seek to use drugs as a functional means of coping? Would women shift from problem solving coping at Entrance and Social Adjustment, to emotion focused coping during the Social Immersion stage and Caught up stage? Excluding the moral issue connected with prostitution and concerning ourselves with the safety, health, and the well-being of prostitutes, should our response entail creating stiffer, swifter penalties to deter women from advancing stages? Should we seek to decriminalize prostitution and rescue women from prostitution by opening doors into other occupations? Should we seek to legalize prostitution and regulate its activities making it a safer occupation?

It will come as no surprise that no research can remain apolitical. Once written, research findings become political as they are interpreted by those with a political agenda or a vested interest in the issue. The political lens used to view prostitution therefore, will have a direct effect on how these findings are interpreted in policy and practice.

Three paradigms for viewing prostitution currently exist. These include the legal-moral paradigm, the sexual equality paradigm, and the free-choice paradigm. Embedded in each paradigm are ideologies, polices that are generated from the particular discourse, and practice implications for appropriate interventions.

LEGAL-MORAL PARADIGM

Discourse

The Roper Poll (as cited in Weitzer, 1991) revealed that when asked, 69% of Americans stated it was important to enforce the prohibition of prostitution. The visibility of prostitution in a community is said to attract other crime and pose health hazards that may reverberate throughout neighborhoods. Notwithstanding reported acts of robbery and swindling schemes directed at customers, prostitutes and customers place themselves at increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases in which severe consequences could occur (Sternberg, 1983). Intravenous drug use exacerbates risk of transmission (Cohen & Alexander, 1987). The drug needs of addicted prostitutes often cannot be met through prostitution alone. Drug-addicted women may introduce additional crime into a community to support their habit (Inciardi, Lockwood, & Pottieger, 1993).

Moral religious codes condemned prostitution as a predatory evil (E.M. Davis, 1973). Religious leaders view prostitution as sinful and immoral. Through this lens, sexual promiscuity damns one to a ill-gotten fate. Therefore women involved in prostitution are believed to have fallen from the grace of God and are thought of as "fallen women" who have drifted from the path of virtuousness and righteousness. "Supporters of moral and religious perspectives...come in all denominations, classes, races, and demographic groups" (Flowers, 1998 p 159). Their agenda is clear; to clean up society by eliminating amoral sexuality and immoral sex industries. Moralists support the legal sanctions established by law makers.

With the exception of 12 rural counties in Nevada, prostitution continues to be illegal in all 50 U.S. states. According to the law, sex workers may be arrested for loitering with the intent to commit an act of prostitution, and for offering and agreeing to an act of prostitution. The prostitute may be arrested if she mentions trading sex for money with a customer or an undercover officer (Boyer & James, 1983; James, 1978).

Legal definitions of prostitution have historically encompassed a double standard by largely focusing on female prostitutes and not male customers. In the early 1900s, for example, the law read, "any female who frequents or lives in a house of ill-fame or associates with women of bad character for chastity, either in public or at a house which men of bad character frequent or visit, or who commits adultery or fornication for hire shall be deemed a prostitute" (Flowers, 1998 p 7-8).

Current law varies from state to state. "Payment for sexual acts is strictly prohibited in 38 states. Solicitation laws are enforced in 44 states. In other states, prostitution is banned through vagrancy, curfew, and loitering statutes" (Flowers, 1998 p 146). Current enforcement of the law reflects old stereotypes as arrest rates suggest women continue to bear most of the blame for the prostitution industry. For example, of all prostitution arrests in 1995, 53,570 were prostitutes, while fewer than 7,000 were suspected customers (Flowers, 1998).

Legal definitions and enforcement practices have been influenced by the way society views women in the sex industry. Negative connotations such as fallen women, street walkers, and drug addicts color the way society perceives women's participation in the industry. Women involved in the sale of sex are thought to encompass defects in character, psychological disorders, and maladaptive lifestyles (Greenwald, 1958; Maerov, 1965). These scientific conceptualizations are congruent with social interpretations. Social interpretations of women who sell sex are translated into that of a "whore," a stigmatized social status that threatens societal position and social standing. Moreover, women involved in prostitution are thought to bear responsibility for the moral decay, social disorder, and criminality associated with prostitution. These interpretations are not afforded to men. The role of "sex client" is not viewed as a social status, but rather an activity (Flowers, 1998). A male client remains largely separated from social stigma. At worst, he may be pitied for not having the talents to attract female companionship independent of payment. However, the terms customer, client, john, or trick are divorced from his personal make-up and do not define his personal identity. His social identity may temporarily suffer as he may be seen as using poor judgment in a moment of weakness. Legally, there will be a blemish on his record. However, the likelihood that a customer will even be arrested is improbable as approximately two customers are arrested for every eight prostitutes arrested (Flowers, 1998). Therefore, the prostitution industry is far less legally and socially detrimental for male clients than it is for female sex workers.

One can, of course, question the reason for this imbalance in perceptions and arrest rates. According to Lazarus & Folkman (1984), beliefs are personally formed, scientifically tested, and culturally shared. Reality has traditionally been tested and legitimized by those in the center. Center people may be defined as white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, youthful, and Christian. The center refers to the center of political, economic, and social power and resources as well as dominance over the scientific structure of knowledge building (VanVoorhis, 1998). Those who benefit are those who define it, fit well in it, enforce it, attribute perspectives, standards, and ways of relating as a result (Schriver, 1998 p.68). Prostitutes represent those at the margin. To be at the margin is to be at the fringe, partial to the whole, lacking in power and resources, to be defined by those at the center. It is the position of being the object of study as opposed to the participant of study. The female identity, in general, is therefore at a scientific disadvantage. The prostitute identity, more specifically, violates the beliefs that espouse male sexuality as active and initiatory and female sexuality as passive and responsive. The prostitute identity therefore defies logic as she is often an active and initiatory participant. This dissonance in science necessitates the need to develop models of pathology and deviance as we must create explanations that coincide with a unidimensional reality of women as sexually passive. This scientific reductionism fueled the need to sanction such activity.

Those in the center create a world that is an extension of their desires and interests. Therefore, in a country dominated by patriarchy, literally translated to mean rule of our fathers (Polit & Hungler, 1995), and because men are the very ones who visit prostitutes, man becomes a walking contradiction. Consequently because those at the center are protected, those at the margins are prosecuted. Because these women violate the constructed reality of sexual passivity, they become the instrument through which moral disintegration occurs and that which must be sanctioned over the actions of male customers whose constructed reality normally displays him as sexually active. Thus within the dyad of sexual exchange, women become both the focus for research, the result of which is often pathology, and the focus for sanction, the result of which is prosecution.

It is important to note that as long as discrimination in arrest rates continue to occur, prostitution will continue to be a challenge for legal-moralists. Following the tenets of the legal-moral paradigm, controlling the industry of prostitution holds little promise so long as the majority of offenders (men) continue to remain largely outside the prosecutorial powers of the law. However, some states are working to penalize those men who purchase sex. Efforts to seize and impound vehicles, publish customers names in local newspapers, and charge stiff fines are among the few approaches cities have used to curb the demand for prostitutes.

There is variability in the types of laws and how those laws are applied from state to state for women involved in prostitution. In general, prostitution is a misdemeanor charge. Prostitution related charges may include vagrancy, curfew, loitering, solicitation, pandering, and procuring females for prostitution purposes. Various approaches toward enforcement of prostitution laws are presented below.

Policy and Practice

The legal-moral paradigm is implemented using four models of enforcement, the laissez faire model, the control model, the regulation model, and the zoning model. The Laissez Faire Model often develops in large cities with overburdened police forces and scarce resources.

Because other crime rates are so high, the futility of trying to enforce a law that is impossible to enforce effectively leaves the police to make a conscious choice not to enforce. Furthermore, the economic well-being of the city depends upon adult tourism and conventions. City officials do not wish to suppress prostitution because of the revenue it indirectly brings to the city (Reynolds, 1986 p.37). In other words, tourists expect to find these luxuries during their stay and may be attracted to the idea of booking conventions, meetings, and vacations in those particular cities. Examples of these cities include San Francisco, Miami and Las Vegas. Because they are supported by the courts and city officials, the Control Model emphasizes enforcement. "The main support for repressing prostitution comes from the community, as the citizens express their displeasure over any public activity that offends the community standard of decency" (Reynolds, 1986 p.39). These communities are usually homogenous urban neighborhoods, small towns, or middle class suburbs. They are made up mostly of families, some of whom morally condemn the idea of prostitution and others who just prefer it be conducted in someone else's neighborhood. This model forces prostitution underground and out of sight. As long as community pressure on police is consistent, prostitution will remain underground. When pressure lifts, so will enforcement (Reynolds, 1986 p. 41).

The Regulation Model operates in cities where there exists a noticeable amount of legal prostitution. These include massage parlors and escort services, or in the case of Nevada, a legal brothel. This model dictates that those engaged in such activities be licensed (Legal Situation in Nevada, 1996). These licenses do not permit carriers to engage in prostitution, but are ways to regulate activities. For example, officials can institute health standards and severely fine any agency, massage parlor, or brothel that hires unlicenced workers. The most beneficial factor to officials is that they can collect taxes on such activities.

The zoning model may incorporate the other three models. In the zoning model, adult entertainment is concentrated in specific areas away from residential neighborhoods. Within these concentrated areas, establishments are regulated and police assume a laissez faire position, while at the same time adhering to a strict control model type enforcement in residential areas. Examples include the French Quarter in New Orleans and the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

Since the Legal-moral paradigm is concerned with social control, enforcement and deterrence are the key approaches used to contain and suppress prostitution. In this approach, progressive cities are attempting to tighten zoning laws while conservative cities are calling for stricter laws and penalties (Stephanian, 1996; Toledo City Council, 1993). By opting for stricter zoning laws, proponents of social reform are hoping to contain the sex industry within designated zones and relieve neighborhoods of problems associated with street prostitution such as traffic congestion, noise, cruising, and the exposure of children to prostitution (Stephanian, 1996).

In communities where imposing stricter penalties are prominent, prostitution can be summed up in one word, prosecution (San Francisco Task Force, 1996). Deterrence theory, a popular approach among classic criminologists, depicts crime as that which can be deterred by creating a judicial atmosphere that guarantees certain, swift, and severe punishment of the criminal. By concentrating energies on prosecution, conducting prostitution sweeps and assigning undercover officers to vice, cities have been able to suppress some street prostitution. However, the financial burden of such an assertive attempt can be economically staggering for these cities. A case example can be found in Toledo, Ohio where a single prostitution arrest costs the city $2920 (Williamson, 1993). This cost estimate includes the total fixed cost to operate the police division, municipal courts, probation and regional jail divided by the number of prostitution arrests.'

1. The statistics ruled out all but misdemeanor offenses that constitute 80% of all Toledo Police Department cases.

More specifically these estimates include the cost of arresting, booking, detaining, and probationary procedures of prostitutes arrested under the charges of loitering and prostitution. These estimates do not include those suspected prostitutes arrested under related charges. Also not included are the capital costs of constructing additional jail space, pre-trial detention, and other recent criminal justice construction projects.

In 1993, The Toledo Police Department petitioned the city council to pay the nearby city of Bowling Green $50,000 for use of temporary jail space to house prostitutes arrested over the weekends or during sweeps. Thus, efforts to rid the streets of prostitution for this city imposed unforeseen structural and financial burdens related to manpower and space. The irony of assertive prosecution of street prostitutes is that prostitution is a nonviolent misdemeanor in the eyes of the law. Criminals charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor are arrested, booked and released in order to save jail space for more serious offenders. Thus when a prostitute is arrested, she is booked, released and given a court date for sentencing. This process takes approximately 20 minutes. Of course, street smart prostitutes who are released never show up for court. If she is arrested again, the process repeats itself until she has accumulated enough charges to be held overnight in the local jail. When arraigned the next morning, she will plead not guilty, be given a trial date and released. The perpetual cycle continues. It is not uncommon to find street prostitutes with 30 or more charges, each one costing the city approximately $2920. In fact, one prostitute in Toledo's criminal justice system had sixty-seven charges of loitering and prostitution costing the city $195,640 not including the cost of the six-month jail sentence she finally did receive (Williamson,1993).

Despite the exorbitant cost of enforcement, deterrence theory appears to be the approach adopted nationally. The following psychological scenario is expected to occur in the mind of the criminal; You know Sue got nine months for that crime, I'd better not do it. Deterrence theory neglects the complexity of individual lives and assumes that the pressure to commit a crime is fairly constant. It doesn't take into consideration that different offenders experience different pressures and that criminal behavior, like all behavior, is subjective and determined by need and desires relative to many variables including opportunity, group norms, formal and informal sanctions, and pleasure versus pain (Webb, 1980). According to deterrence theory, the risk of being caught will lower the probability for violation when, in fact, risk is said to be subjectively calculated by the individual (Webb, 1980 p.29). Finally, deterrence theory assumes individuals are rational and therefore make choices based on rational decisions. Most law abiding citizens are law abiding because they have "internalized the socialization process- not the written law and its sanctions" (Webb, 1980 p.24).

Criticisms of the legal-moral perspective have pointed to its failure to resolve problems associated with prostitution (Shaver, 1994). In direct contrast to the Legal-Moral paradigm are the Free Choice and Sexual Equality paradigms. Whereas the legal-moral model functioned from an ideology of the criminalization of prostitutes, the sexual equality paradigms calls for decriminalization of prostitution.

SEXUAL EQUALITY PARADIGM

Discourse

Equality of women depends directly on their ability to eliminate male sexual oppression. It is believed that equality cannot exist so long as sexual subordination to men continues to exist. Prostitution is therefore intrinsically abusive. Within the customer-prostitute relationship, males break few societal rules in visiting a prostitute but prostitutes break many rules in selling sex.

Women in prostitution defy social control and therefore threaten the basic structure of society (James, 1978). Society regulates sexual activity and reproduction through the institution of the family (Jesson, 1993). Pateman (1988), in her book "The Sexual Contract", surmises that marriage is a private contract and prostitution is a public contract delineating male's sexual ownership of women. Therefore, women cannot divorce themselves from sexual regulation by society. Historically, women who were not considered male property, such as divorcees and sexually active women, had a considerably more difficult time obtaining legal protection than did married women and virgins (Miller & Schwartz, 1995). As marginalized women, prostitutes are not afforded the same privileges and protections as other individuals in a democratic society including the fundamental recognition of value as a human being (Shaver, 1994) and the protection of the full extent of the law when victimized (Fairstein, 1993; Frohmann, 1992). Prosecutors typically do not prosecute cases involving prostitute complainants (Frohmann, 1992), and, in many cases, automatically dismiss sexual assault complaints initiated by known prostitutes (Fairstein, 1993). To further worsen their plight, very few street workers report their victimization to authorities (Silbert & Pines, 1982).

Despite widespread evidence to the contrary, societal attitudes concerning prostitutes continue to be that they are unrapeable, do not suffer physical attack, deserve the violence inflicted upon them, or that no harm is done when prostitutes are hurt or killed (Miller & Schwartz, 1995). Because prostitution is a deviant activity that is illegal and viewed by many as morally wrong, prostitutes are forced underground and hidden from view (Weiner, 1996). The alternative for street prostitutes is to find non-conventional ways to protect themselves from physical violence.

Advocates for the sexual equality paradigm suggest prostitutes are victims and that victimization occurs in three ways. Sex workers are viewed as victims of the psycho-social determinants involved in street prostitution, such as violence, drugs, and HIV risks, they are victims of societal shaming, namely, outcasting and labeling, and they are victims of negative childhood experiences including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

WHISPER (Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution Engaged in Revolt), a group comprised of former prostitutes, explains that prostitution is exploitive, oppressive and dangerous. It is sexual abuse and is the vehicle through which women's social and economic inequality continues. Because it is a violation of human dignity, it is a violation of human rights. Giobbe (1991 as cited in Bell, 1994) argues:

Although WHISPER leaves no room for alternative constructions or conflicting perspectives, their message is clear: prostitution is abuse to women. Even when challenged by women who say they choose prostitution, sexual equality activists attribute the notion of free choice to the tenets of domination theory. Women who live under the oppressive conditions of patriarchy have no real free choice but are victims of false consciousness:

Many women involved in prostitution have suffered sexual and physical assault, robbery, beatings, stabbings, and kidnaping (Miller, 1993). Sexual equality proponents suggest that prosecution actually exacerbates problems associated with street prostitutes and does little to rid society of the prostitution problem other than to force it underground where it becomes even more risky to the victims involved. Feminists suggest that we focus on the realities of street life, which lends credence to claims that prostitution is victimization. By studying the lives of women and allowing the female voice to be heard, science would be inclusive, yield increased accuracy, and provide society a more informed knowledge base upon which to judge human behavior (Harding, 1991).

Critical Theory

Critical Theorists believe that a reality exists but that we may attain stronger objectivity by focusing on knowledge obtained from and by those marginalized by society. Within this conception, the oppressed have the ability to understand both the oppressed view and the view of the dominant culture. For survival, the oppressed have had to learn the culture of the oppressor but the dominant culture has not been forced to learn from the oppressed. Therefore, science dominated by men is science that is biased. The assumptions within the legal-moral paradigm that good girls trade it and bad girls sell it are assumptions that are inherently flawed (Harding, 1991). What is believed to be known a priori, becomes questionable. When the voices of marginal women are sought out and heard, knowledge begins to more accurately reflect reality.

A critical examination of history is needed to rectify distorted scientific conclusions on prostitution. Women as prostitutes are not inherently pathological nor are they solely responsible for the moral decay of the country. They are victims of historical patriarchy and oppression. Critical theorists believe in one reality for prostitution. Prostitution is domination and victimization.

Policy and Practice

According to sexual equality proponents, rescue, rather than enforcement, should be at the forefront of social policy and programs regarding prostitution. Not only should social policy favor access to health care and social services, interventions and preventions should be geared toward aiding the street prostitute to escape or avoid prostitution. Escape is the only way to empower women. Criteria for intervention should address bridging the gap between those most vulnerable and effective social services. Currently across the country there exist three types of program models, outreach by use of mobile van, case management and residential treatment. All of these programs promote the same fundamental philosophy of a non-traditional, flexible approach of building relationships, working through indigenous networks and meeting the physical and emotional needs of clients.

The Mobile Van Project in New York City that began in 1989 uses a van equipped with HIV prevention information and testing, condoms and clean needles. The goal for this program as with similar outreach programs is harm reduction. Case Managers and HIV counselors conduct outreach into poor neighborhoods, known as "ho strolls," to provide counseling and referrals for service. Funded by the state, city and federal grants for AIDS projects, the van makes several stops covering the five Boroughs of New York City (Weiner, 1996).

A more comprehensive project called "Second Chance" began in Toledo, Ohio in 1993 and ended in 1998. It operated out of an inner city community center that had been in the neighborhood for more than 100 years with well established roots in the community. A case manager worked intensively with street prostitutes wishing to leave prostitution. The program included a 12-step, drop-in prostitutes anonymous group, a sexuality group, one on one counseling, advocacy, goal setting, basic needs, and emergency money available for material necessities. This project was funded by the city and churches, and worked closely with the informal street network as well as the court system and women's shelters.

Yet another approach can be found in Chicago at Genesis House. Here the women are housed in a residential facility where they participate in the same type of groups, including 12 step programs and sexuality groups. For those not involved in the residential program, groups and basic services are still available including food and clothing along with the use of the phone to contact worried family members or make appointments with providers. Both Second Chance and Genesis House emphasized a spiritual component, believing that involvement in street prostitution and the problems associated (i.e., drug use, childhood sexual abuse, and violence) injure one's emotional, physical and spiritual health, which all require healing (Genesis House, 1992; Second Chance, 1998).

Prostitutes Anonymous (PA) groups operated at both Genesis House and Second Chance. Prostitutes Anonymous was formed in 1987 in Los Angeles by Renee LeBlanc, an ex-prostitute, and follows the traditional steps and principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. PA does not condemn the sex industry; it is the addictions associated with those caught up in a life that are destructive. Prostitution is a symptom of the deeper problem of addiction. Just as Alcoholics Anonymous makes the distinction between the alcoholic and alcohol, PA believes that prostitution is not a disease, it is the addiction to prostitution that is a disease. It becomes a disease when the person's life becomes unmanageable. Unmanageability is related to the obsession and compulsion rooted in addiction. According to Kasl (1989), what prostitutes become addicted to is the ritual of putting on make-up, getting dressed, going out on the hunt, capturing the prey; knowing that a woman can hit the streets and men would come running to pay money. It is an addictive power that has been described as an adrenaline rush similar to a high. To be asked to give up prostitution is to ask women to give up their power. In any other addiction the addict begins to lose money, but in prostitution the more addicted one becomes the more money one makes. Requirements for success in the program include regular attendance at meetings, personal testimony, recognition of recovery for those with considerable time spent out of the sex industry, a sponsor, phone therapy and a requirement to provide service to others (Bell, 1994)

. Although each approach to assist victims of prostitution uses different modes of service delivery, all agree that work with street prostitutes requires a non-traditional, flexible approach, believing that street prostitutes are not easily served through traditional agency service delivery mechanisms. "The nature of prostitution is such that [these individuals] do not always present themselves as 'acceptable' clients for agencies" (Weiner, 1996 p. 103).

According to Weiner (1996), working with street prostitutes challenges social workers to operationalize their values of self-determination and acceptance. Of course, to proponents of the Free choice paradigm, operationalizing the value of self determination takes on a whole new meaning. To this group, self determination means advocating for the legalization of prostitution. The free-choice proponents supply us with a different construction of the prostitute.

FREE-CHOICE PARADIGM

Discourse

Some prostitutes are attempting to shift the rhetoric from prostitution as sinful and deviant to sex as work. The term "sex work" was first coined by performer and activist Carol Leigh (Alexander, 1987). Local groups banded together during the 1980s to form an international coalition of grass roots organizations called The International Committee for Prostitute Rights (ICPR). Two World Whores Summits were held in the 80s that connected Third World women with First World women. The key themes were, women sell their services, not their bodies, and it is a woman's free choice to prostitute in as much as free choice can be achieved in a patriarchal, racist and sexist society (Bell, 1994).

In the U.S., COYOTE (Call off Your Old Tired Ethics) and PONY (Prostitutes of New York) are two vocal groups active in the struggle. Although membership is open to all, leadership remains in the hands of prostitutes. Prominent figures are Norma Jean Almodour, spokeswoman, and Margo St. James, president of COYOTE.

Free-choice proponents attempt to connect the struggle of prostitution rights with the struggle for women's rights in general. They argue that the feminist struggle is about: ...obtaining independence, financial autonomy, personal strength, female bonding, and sexual self determination as in the right to have an abortion, the right to choose a same sex intimate relationship, [the right not to receive female circumcision], and the right to sell sexual services. In sum, the right over one's own sexuality and the assumption of control over one's own body... women should have the right to have sex for reproduction, recreation, or remuneration (Bell, 1994 p.106).

The struggle should focus on prostitution, since prostitution is where society inflicts the most oppression and control (Bell, 1994). According to this perspective, assessing the rights of those regularly deprived and most marginalized in our society is a measure of our future struggle.

Postmodernism

Free-choice proponents are postmodernists. In postmodernism, reality is subjective and is therefore rooted in the subjective experience of the individual or group in question. Truth is variable, complex and unique. Postmodernism accounts for the contradiction found in people's lives (Harding, 1991).

The researcher's stance is one of open interactiveness with study participants. The notions of researcher bias or researcher's values are acknowledged. It is an interpretive paradigm, one that is inductive and process oriented. Meaning making requires the use of qualitative methods. The overall goal with qualitative research is to understand. When contemplating epistemology, Harding (1991) asks a series of questions:

Prostitution rights groups do identify the existence of both negative and positive consequences regarding prostitution but recognize that post-positivist epistemological claims have viewed reality through the eyes of the dominant culture that has largely distorted perceptions of women. In addition, negative experiences may be attributed to an oppressive society that helps to create negative consequences by lack of social acceptance and societal protection.

Free-choice activists respect the complexity and pluralism found in women's lives. To these proponents, those who were objects of theory must now be participants of theory. Postmodernism rejects the idea of reduction to the singular, with the singular being concluded from the abstract view of man. The construction of the prostitute according to prostitutes' rights groups is multiple, prostitute as healer, sexual surrogate, teacher, therapist, educator, and political activist (Bell, 1994). This paradigm rejects notions of Domination Theory, stating that this ideological orientation has shaped the interpretations of many researchers who refuse to believe that the words of sex workers are true (Wahab & Sloan, 1997 p. 7).

Thus a prostitute's work can be seen as both empowering and dehumanizing. The assertion is made that not only does reality differ across women but may conflict and differ within one woman. Just as one's job can be viewed at times as both empowering and dehumanizing, so it is the case with sex as work

Policy and Practice

For proponents of the Free-choice paradigm, prosecution and zoning laws have done little good and a great deal of harm. Reports show that street prostitutes are disproportionally prosecuted over prostitutes in other areas of the industry (San Francisco Task Force, 1996). Furthermore, because street prostitutes are more likely to be poor, and women of color are arrested seven times as much as white women (Flowers, 1987), arrest rates erroneously suggest that prostitution is a black and poor phenomenon (Wahab & Sloan, 1997).

While zoning laws appear to be an equitable response to the prostitution problem in communities, these laws only force women into congested and unprotected areas where they fall prey to victimization by pimps, extortionists and rapists. Because neighborhood residents do not want zones near them, zoning is pushed back into industrial areas that are dangerous and isolated. In addition, zoning does not remove the criminalized stigma and associated ramifications, nor does it protect basic human rights. For example, being labeled a criminal places women at risk of losing custody of their children (San Francisco Task Force, 1996).

In San Francisco, a multi-disciplinary task force was formed to look at the issue of prostitution and legalization. Committees included those that researched the areas of health, safety and services, legal and fiscal impact, neighborhood issues, and general research including youth issues and immigrant issues. Each committee researched the history of patterns and practices in their particular area, the current social and legal responses, and conducted interviews with law enforcement, residents, prostitutes and activist groups. A summary of the recommendations given to city officials is presented below:

*Establish a review program to assure that sex trade venues comply with fair practices including health and safety codes according to OSHA. Provide provision for sick leave, workers compensation and disability insurance according to the labor commission- and other labor and safety regulations. Monitor working conditions by regulating agencies as required by law · Performers should only be classified by management as independent contractors when the work performed fits into guidelines for independent contractors based on labor standards. Performers should be paid hourly wages, provided benefits and not charged stage fees and be forced to give up a percentage of their earnings to management

The final phase of this on-going, mammoth project will be to research possible effects on the city's economy and structure, as well as the well-being of neighborhoods, residents, and prostitutes as a result of social reforms. Thus far, no further significant action has taken place. However, prostitution advocates continue to rally, write, and politicize the idea of prostitution as work. The Prostitutes' Education Network and Whoreact are two sites that provide on-going literature on this issue and are available on the Internet.1

1. Prostitutes' Education Network is available at http://www.bayswan.org and Network of Sex Work Projects is available at http://www.whoreact.net

The controversy over prostitution is one that has been grounded in three dominant and diverse paradigms reflecting various philosophies on the issue. In light of the findings of this study, the implications for future policy and practice will be discussed in the next section.

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

The significance and distinctions surrounding differing ideological positions that flow from these paradigms have implications for both policies and practices. Findings from this study on prostitute progression, therefore, will be filtered through the value lenses of the three already established paradigms discussed above. Proponents for the criminalization of prostitution might be inclined to use these findings to justify not only stiffer, swifter sentences, but to advocate for intervening early before women become heavily involved in drugs and crime. Although stiffer, swifter sentences have been criticized as bearing little connection to crime prevention and deterrence (Webb, 1980), criminalization proponents may use this information to advocate for stronger penalties hoping to force women out of the prostitution business. More often than not, diversion programs for those arrested early in their prostitution career may be the path that criminalization proponents take. However, for those arrested later in their career, my findings suggest multiple criminal justice interventions, e.g., time in jail, probation, mandatory 12 step meetings, regular urine testing, when coupled with sanctions from child protection services and the individual's desire to leave prostitution, did have an effect on women's motivation to leave prostitution.

Decriminalization activists may use this information on prostitute stages to develop assessments and treatments that are congruent with specific stages. An assessment tool for health and social work professionals practicing in the field could potentially be developed that will enable workers to make appropriate assessments. Once the tools and capability to appropriately make assessments are complete, professionals will have the ability to make more appropriate referrals. This natural progression of knowledge building will illuminate gaps in services and precipitate the need to develop and expand existing services to accommodate new assessment information. Program developers and advocates will be needed to create prostitution specific programming in order to provide service to address particular needs according to assessments. Thus social workers would be filling the gaps between need and service, while serving social work's mission of service to the poor, vulnerable, and oppressed.

To this I add the voice of social justice that one might find in a Free Choice argument. Free Choice proponents argue that legalization will decrease the amount of violence and risk suffered as a result of the lack of societal protections afforded other professions. To this group, it is a matter of oppression and distorted perceptions. While others view the stages through the lens of problems and issues, free-choice advocates see prostitution as work. Entrance may be viewed as a choice and social adjustment may be seen as the time to learn one's role in a new, however dangerous profession. By regulating the profession and providing benefits and protections under the law, prostitution will become a safer enterprise. It is also expected that Social Immersion may be perceived as nothing more than commitment toward obtaining the capitalistic fruits of a dedication to one's career, much like that of any other dedicated professional who seeks the financial fruits of her labor. Free Choice proponents may view the "caught up" stage as a response to repeated violence, degradation, and stigma, all of which are caused by environmental conditions that with legalization would be minimized. The recourse prostitutes have would be the right to prosecute to the full extent of the law any customer who assaults them, much like any other hard-working citizen in the U.S.

It is clear that for several reasons, be it criminalization, decriminalization, or legalization of prostitution, when a group is marginalized and locked out of the mainstream economy, its members are forced to participate in an underground economy. Although the implications for policy and practice approaches differ according to paradigm, the goal remains the same, to enable street prostitutes to participate in mainstream society.

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