REVIEWS Comments, contributions and suggestions to The Editor, c/o Probation Office, Whitefriars, Norwich NR3 1TN : Male Youth Prostitution Claire Foster University of East Anglia, 1991; pp 44; £4.50 pbk
| Author | Mike Walsh,Charles Dodd |
| Date | 01 March 1992 |
| Published date | 01 March 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059203900114 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
48
Carol
Coulter
(a
journalist
with
the
Irish
Times)
uses
this
quote
from
Roger
Shaw’s
Children
of Imprisoned
Fathers
in
her
opening
chapter.
She
goes
on
to
demonstrate
the
effects
of
imprison-
ment
on
a
range
of
children.
However,
her
book
also
covers
the
wide
spec-
trum
of
other
people
caught
in
the
web.
She
estimates
that
in
the
context
of
N.Ireland,
where
there
is
still
a
real
extended
family
system,
there
are
10
people
affected
by
the
imprisonment
of
one
person,
leading,
she
estimates,
to
100,000
people
in
N.Ireland
with
experience
of
the
effects
of
imprison-
ment
over
the
last
17
years.
This
book
is
essentially
a
study
of
the
effects
of
imprisonment
on
the
families
of
prisoners
sentenced
for
’ter-
rorist
type’
offences.
However,
since
the
book
is
about
this
particular
group
of
prisoners,
it
almost
inevitably
covers
a
range
of
other
major
issues
-
the
need
for
the
transfer
of
Irish
prisoners
from
England;
the
different
but
often
similar
experiences
of
the
families
of
loyalist
and
republican
prisoners;
the
role
of
Sinn
Fein
in
offering
a
legal
forum
to
prisoners
on
release
and
a
strongly
argued
case
for
’listening
to
the
people
involved
and
in
particular
to
the
women
and
children
who
bear
the
brunt
of
it
(ice
the
sustained
conflict)
as
a
way
to
bring
it
to
an
end’.
W~&
of Punishment
is
easy
to
read
as
it
is
in
the
form
of
direct
and
detail-
ed
anecdotes
from
people
and,
given
the
usual
direct
style
of
people
here,
the
impact
of
these
contributions
are
hard
to
ignore.
It
also
poses
questions
for
Probation
Services
at
a
policy
and
at
a
practice
level.
Practice
issues
are
probably
more
easy
to
identify
-
are
we
aware
enough
of
what
families
go
through;
what
services
would
be
most
relevant
to
families;
or
are
we
too
caught
up
still
with
the
prisoner
as
an
individual?
I
noted
one
major
error,
at
least
I
hope
it is
an
error.
Since
when
did
Harry
Fletcher
become
the
General
Secretary
of
the
National
Association
of
Prison
Officers?
I
think
we
should
be
told.
Rita
O’Hare
SPO,
Belfast
Male
Youth
Prostitution
Claire
Foster
University
of East Anglia,
1991;
pp
44;
£4.50
pbk
Probation
officers
can
often
feel
un-
comfortable,
uncertain
and
deskilled.
Not
all
of
us,
for
example,
are
at
ease
dealing
with
mentally
disordered
of-
fenders.
When
we
have
to
work
with
young
men
involved
in
prostitution
these
feelings
can
be
compounded
by
ignorance,
fear
and
prejudice.
How
often
do
we
take
for
granted
our
clients’
sexuality
or
feel
it
appropriate
to
discuss
with
them
their
sexual
behaviour?
Male
youth
prostitution
is
not
con-
fined
to
London
or
the
major
conur-
bations.
Wherever
there
is
a
sizeable
population,
rent
boys
and
their
clients
may
well
be
found.
And
whilst
female
prostitutes
are
now
increasingly
subject
to
conveyor
belt
processes
in
magistrates’
courts
and
so
rarely
are
referred
t probation
officers,
the
of-
fence
of
importuning
for
an
immoral
purpose
is
viewed
differently
and
can
produce
a
loss
of
liberty.
Hence
re-
quests
for
reports
to
obtain
more
infor-
mation,
explore
the
extent
of
presumed
corruption
and
to
try
and
put
the
young
man
on
the
straight
(sic)
and
narrow.
Very
little
has
been
written
about
male
youth
prostitution
and
much
of
that
is
dated
and
relates
to
the
American
experience.
In
this
monograph
Claire
Foster
does
a
service
in
drawing
together
the
literature,
though
at
times
the
review
of
the
dif-
ferent
schools
of
thought
can
remind
us
of
our
own
student
days.
Certain
basic
guidelines
are
established
and
she
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