Prostitution

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, of all the criminally deviant behaviors, few are as widespread, occur as routinely or possess as long a history as prostitution. According to the paper, some view prostitutes as victims of a situation and/or society. The paper goes on to discuss the arguments for and against legally protecting prostitutes.

From the Paper:

"By contrast, the standpoint of evolutionary psychology would inevitably indicate that certain individuals, upon birth, are more prone to become child abusers than others. Although socialization and social controls may exist, the evolutionary psychologist would be weary of contending that social controls do anything more than inhibit behavior; they fail to eliminate innate human drives: "Because evolved mechanisms were adaptive to ancestral environments, they are not always adaptive for contemporary people," (Bjorklund 1687). So while it may be possible, from this point of view, for an individual possessing a genetic predisposition towards sexual aggression to never act upon these impulses, this may tell us very little about precisely who is likely to abuse children. But despite the possible accuracy of the evolutionary psychology theory regarding child abuse, it is very limited in being able to provide information about why child abuse occurs--their answer would be simply that it is innate. Accordingly, if it is innate, then society has no justification for prosecuting pedophiles or violent parents; it was the way they were born."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bjorklund, David and Anthony Pellegrini. (2000). "Child Development and Evolutionary Psychology." Child Development, vol. 71, issue 6. Pages 1687-1712.
• Brown, Stephen E. et al. (1991). Criminology: Explaining Crime and its Context. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing.
• Kobayashi, Juichi et al. (1995). "Perceived parental deviance, parent-child bonding, child abuse, and child sexual aggression." Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, vol. 7, no. 1. Pages 25-44.
• Leighninger, L. and Popple, Phillip R. (1996). Social Work, Social Welfare, and American Society. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon.

More papers on Prostitution :

• Persuasive Essay # 134106 : "Prostitution and the Prostitutes: New Perspectives"
• Essay # 32152 : "Prostitution and the Social Order"
• Research Paper # 4914 : "Prostitution"
• Analytical Essay # 136422 : "Legalization of Prostitution from a Criminological Perspective"

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