The social control of the commercial sex industry: qualitative reflections on the police

Abstract

The social control of prostitution has resulted in enormous expenditures of police time and resources in many communities across the United States. Police strategies such as aggressive hot spot patrols and sting operations resulting in multiple arrests of prostitutes are commonly used by social control agencies. It is questionable whether strategies such as these are effective in resolving prostitution both in the long and short term. Furthermore, there is a dearth of literature that assesses the perceptions of police officers themselves toward the social control of prostitution. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the perceptions of police officers toward prostitution using interviews as the data collection strategy. Results indicate that many officers believe that traditional enforcement strategies are ineffective in dealing with prostitution. Officers also reported that while legalization of prostitution does not fit within the moral framework of the community, it would lower the frequency of harm, and that sexually transmitted diseases and associated instances of drug use and interpersonal violence, are the principle social pathologies for which they are concerned.