Janis Yue

Dr. Mitra Hoshiar

SOC 001
March 30, 2018
Prostitution: A Deviant Behavior

Prostitution has been described as the “world’s oldest profession.” While this statement is

debatable, evidence has shown that prostitution has existed since ancient times, tracing back to as

early as 18th Century BCE when it is referred to in the Code of Hammurabi (Head, 2017).

Interestingly, societal acceptance or rejection of prostitution has varied throughout time as well

as space, with some cultures displaying support through government-owned brothels (i.e. ancient

Greeks) and others criminalizing prostitution. When analyzed in the context of William Graham

Sumner’s definition of deviance as a “violation of established contextual, cultural, or social

norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law” (Griffiths et al., 2016), a case can certainly be

made that prostitution is an act of deviance, at least specifically in modern American culture.

Self-perspectives, however, may vary individually, with some viewing prostitution as a feminist

career and others engaging in it only out of perceived necessity. As a result, prostitution can both

empower and disempower individuals within society, as reflected in the differing sanctions

presented towards it.

Prostitution exists beyond the bounds of codified law as well as informal mores. While

prostitution is actually currently legal in about 49% of all countries worldwide, it is illegal in all

U.S. states besides some rural counties of Nevada (Head, 2017). Therefore, it is concretely an act

of deviance within the United States as it is considered a legal violation and there are formal

negative sanctions against it. In regards to how prostitution is viewed popularly, it currently

remains a divisive topic, with a recent Marist Poll showing that about half of Americans believe

that prostitution between two consenting adults should be legal while 44% do not (“Should

prostitution,” 2016). In an online debate forum where users were asked “Is prostitution morally

wrong?” almost half of users said they believed it was, with some contending that it was
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exploitative and dangerous and didn’t align with their religious morals (“Is prostitution”). These

statistics show that the concept of prostitution is still at odds with some common beliefs (there

are informal negative sanctions) and further supports its status as a deviant behavior, but perhaps

counterintuitively, popular opinions are split fairly equally. One may not expect this lack of

agreement between popular beliefs and the current legal status of prostitution in the U.S., and

this may signal a coming change in societal regulation of prostitution.

This split in opinion is reflected in prostitutes’ own self-reflections on their actions.

Within the context of labeling theory, prostitution can act as a primary or secondary deviance.

Due to the sometimes secret or private nature of prostitution, it could be possible that an

individual’s violation of the norms doesn’t really result in long-term effects on their self-image

or interactions with others. It could be a rare aberration instead of a career. Other times, however,

prostitution becomes a secondary deviance, where a person’s “self-concept and behavior begin to

change after his or her actions are labeled as deviant by members of society” (Griffiths et al.,

2016). In fact, this can lead to master status, where prostitute becomes the chief label of an

individual. In terms of whether prostitutes themselves view their actions as positive or negative

within society, some sex workers believe that their work provides them agency within society

and believe that decriminalization would allow their work to be made safer through regulation

(VICE, 2017). Others tell stories of deep harm, such as Ms. Lobert in an interview with NPR:

“...beyond my own personal experience of rape, molestation, sexual exploitation, abuse, you

know, physical violence, the emotional trauma that happens from being a prostitute and being

told that you’re just worth what you look like, it wrecks a person’s life” (“Behind Closed Doors,”

2008).
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In fact, Robert Merton’s functionalist theory on deviance can be utilized in analysis of

prostitution as a deviant route. Merton’s theory contends that deviance is a result of “having a

socially accepted goal but not having a socially accepted way to pursue it” (Griffith et al., 2016).

Merton’s theory details 5 different ways that deviance manifests--rebellion and innovation can

both be applied in the context of prostitution. In terms of the first viewpoint presented above, in

which prostitution increases female agency, individuals may be engaging in rebellion--they

replace society’s goals and mainstream values with their own. In terms of the second perspective,

in which prostitution is only used as a necessary career which comes with many dangers,

individuals are engaging in a form of innovation due to not having more legitimate means to

pursue their goals.

Synthesizing the views presented, I personally believe that safe, fully-consented

prostitution could increase female empowerment within society, but the current reality is that a

highly unsafe environment exists where imbalances of power are propagated. Therefore, the

current model generally serves society negatively and could be improved such that women do

not need to turn to poor conditions out of desperation and can empower themselves through safe

and integritous means, including safe and integritous prostitution if that is their choice. Some

countries have begun to follow this line of thought, such as Sweden, which implemented laws

which criminalized patrons of prostitution rather than the prostitutes themselves (Aleem, 2015).

Critics, however, believe that the legislation still isn’t enough to truly empower women in the

industry. It seems that in the U.S. and many other countries worldwide, societal responses to

prostitution in terms of both formal and informal sanctions still need to be improved so that

people who engage in this deviant behavior can be protected.

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References:

Aleem, Z. (2015, March 13). 16 Years Since Decriminalizing Prostitution, Here's What's
Happening in Sweden. Retrieved from https://mic.com/articles/112814/here-s-what-s-happened-
in-sweden-16-years-since-decriminalizing-prostitution#.G86se4wQ4

Behind Closed Doors: The Reality of Prostitution. (3008, May 5). Retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90182347

Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., Jones, F.
(2016). Introduction to sociology (2nd ed.). Houston, TX: Rice University. Retrieved from
https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/introduction-to-sociology-2e

Head, T. (2017, March 17). The History of Prostitution: Prostitution through the Centuries.
Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-prostitution-721311

Is prostitution morally wrong? (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from

http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-prostitution-morally-wrong

Should prostitution be legalized? (2016, May 31). Retrieved from

http://maristpoll.marist.edu/531-should-prostitution-be-legalized/

VICE. (Director). (2017, March 13). Interview with Feminist Sex Worker[Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_x5xFxYvEQ