Prostitution, Business and Police: The Maintenance of an Illegal Economy
| Author | James H. Frey,Loren R. Reichert,Kenneth V. Russell |
| Date | 01 July 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8105400305 |
| Published date | 01 July 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JAMES
H. FREY,
Ph.D.
LOREN R.
REICHERT,
Ph.D.
Department
of
Sociology, University
of
Nevada. Las Vegas.
and
KENNETH V.
RUSSELL,
Ph.D.
School
of
Law. Leicester Polytechnic.
PROSTITUTION, BUSINESS
AND
POLICE: THE
MAINTENANCE
OF
AN
ILLEGAL
ECONOMY*
*A revised version of a pa per presented at the meetings of the Pacific
Sociological Association. San Francisco. California, U.S.A .. April.
1980.
Prostitution, like organized crime and gambling, is an areaof activity
which seems pervasive even in the face of legaland value restrictions.
Intermittent police raids, territorial restrictions and politicians' anti-
prostitution pre-election rhetoric have done little to stem the tide of
the "sex-for-sale-business." Laws and religious prohibitions have
done little to curtail the demand. In fact. the excitement of indulging
in an otherwise illegal activity may just contribute to the
attractiveness of
that
activity. Prostitution may exist because of the
client's demand to satisfy his prurient interest, to meet some psychic
need or to satisfy a libidinal instinct. However, prostitution also
exists because it is in the best interest of a city's economic community
to be able to provide the services of prostitutes. Law enforcement,
aware of this situation, indirectly co-operates to maintain
prostitution,
but
in a controlled fashion.
Psycho-social explanations aside, prostitution, even as
an
illegal
activity, can continue to exist by virtue of the support received from
structural arrangements within the environment. One such
component is a social network of prostitutes, procurers, business
leaders, taxi drivers, bellmen
and
even police agencies. This network
operates
within
a
supportive
task
environment,
e.g.,
tourist/ recreation industry, which, in fact, requires the network to
act as a mechanism of control. Not only does the network exist
because it responds to "demand" for the product, which in turn
enhances the economic return to that environment, it exists because
the task environment needs it to keep a lid on what otherwise could
be
an
explosive situation. Thus, business, law enforcement,
prostitution become strange,
but
mutually supportive, bedfellows.
July
/98/
239
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