Background: Addiction, theft and Prostitution are of the most important problems of contemporary society. On the other hand, self-esteem is one of the most important variables and concepts that might have a meaningful influence on these problems. This study aims to investigate the role of self-esteem in the individuals’ tendency to addiction, theft and prostitution in Kerman city, Iran. Methods...

OBJECTIVE Prostitution is common among women with substance-use disorders (SUDs). However, little is known about the outcomes of SUD treatment for women involved in prostitution relative to their peers or the impact of SUD treatment on subsequent prostitution. METHOD Participants were 1,287 women from a national study of SUD treatment sites. Women completed a baseline interview at entry to SU...

Researchers have consistently linked commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of youth and involvement in prostitution with substance dependency and delinquency. Yet, important questions remain regarding the directionality and mechanisms driving this association. Utilizing a sample of 114 CSE/prostituted youth participating in the Pathways to Desistance study-a longitudinal investigation of the tra...

CONTEXT Studies of prostitution have focused largely on individuals involved in the commercial sex trade, with an emphasis on understanding the public health effect of this behavior. However, a broader understanding of how prostitution affects mental and physical health is needed. In particular, the study of prostitution among individuals in substance use treatment would improve efforts to prov...

OBJECTIVE To explore the service needs of women in jail, the authors examined three pathways into prostitution: childhood sexual victimization, running away, and drug use. Studies typically have explored only one or two of these pathways, and the relationships among the three points of entry remain unclear. METHODS Data on 1,142 female jail detainees were used to examine the effects of childh...

This exploratory analysis examines the role of the Internet in juvenile prostitution cases coming to the attention of law enforcement. The National Juvenile Prostitution Study (N-JPS) collected information from a national sample of law enforcement agencies about the characteristics of juvenile prostitution cases. In comparison to non-Internet juvenile prostitution cases, Internet juvenile prost...

The effect of prostitution laws on human trafficking and voluntary prostitution is subject to debate. We argue theoretically that neither legalization nor criminalization can simultaneously protect voluntary prostitutes and unambiguously reduce trafficking. We propose an alternative, “hybrid” policy that achieves both objectives and restores the free market outcome that arises in the absence of...

We study the opinions on prostitution that emerged from the World Value Survey. We show that individuals tends to justify prostitution more in countries where it is legal or regulated and less in countries where it is prohibited, even after controlling for religious, cultural and sociological factors. To overcome the endogeneity of the policy to the opinions, we propose an instrumental variable...

Exiting street-level prostitution is a complex, convoluted process. Few studies have described this process within any formal conceptual framework. This article reviews two general models and two prostitution-specific models and their applicability to the exiting process. Barriers encountered as women attempt to leave the streets are identified. Based on the four models, the barriers, the prost...

This article describes and discusses the results of two comparative studies of prostitution policy in Europe that are complementary in their design and methodology. One is a comparison of 21 countries using a most different systems design; the other an in-depth comparison of Austria and The Netherlands, using a most similar systems design. The two studies found a remarkable continuity in the in...