Early BY

Sexual

JENNIFER

Experience JAMES,

PH.D.,

and AND

JANE

Prostitution

MEYERDING

The authors compared several aspects ofearly sexual experiencefound in two earlier studies of prostitutes with results ofresearch on ‘normal’ women. The prostitutes had in common many negative experiences notfound orfound less often in other populations of young women. These include incestuous and/or coerced sex, lack ofparental guidance, intercourse at a young age, andfew or no meaningful relationships with males. These women had discovered that sex could lead to a kind ofstatus, even though that status is negatively labeled by the wider culture. In a society that values women on the basis oftheir sexuality, a woman who views herself as “debased” may see prostitution as a viable alternative-perhaps the only alternative. ‘

‘

sequent relationship of sexual partners, ships,’ incest, and ‘

Both

,

,

“

The authors are with the University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. 98915, where Dr. James is Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Ms. Meyerding is Research Analyst, Female Criminal Involvement and Narcotics Addiction project. This work was supported Health Administration grant on Drug Abuse.

by Alcohol. DA-00918

Drug Abuse, and Mental from the National Institute

number relation-

‘

involved

questionnaires,

interviews,

and ethnographic field observation; thus, data are limited to ‘self-report. The first study (referred to as study 1) was conducted between 1970 and 1972 with a sample of 72 adult prostitutes and 20 adolescent prostitutes contacted on the street and injail (3). The second study (study 2), conducted during 1974-1975, included 136 prostitutes contacted in the same way; 68 of these subjects were also defined as addicts (4). In order to make our data more meaningful, we will use cornparisons with studies of “normal” female sexual experience. ‘

AGE IT HAS BEEN ARGUED by prostitutes and social scientists alike (1 2) that prostitution is an aspect rather than a contradiction of the female sex role in our society. What then determines which women will act out the prostitution components of that role? According to Rosenblum (2), “access to prostitutes and perhaps specific incidents in the life of the individual” are the deciding factors. One of us (J.J.) conducted studies of streetwalkers in a large western city that seemed to indicate a common pattern of certain sexual experiences-many of them negative-among the 228 subjects studied (3, 4). Although there is more to the profession of prostitution than just sex (e.g. economics, customer demand, a subcultural ethos), it seems clear that a woman’s self-concept ofher sexuality must play an important part in her decision to prostitute and that sexual experiences unrelated to prostitution may have considerable impact on the development of this selfconcept. In this article, we will present data on the sexual experiences of subjects in these two studies that we feel may be particularly relevant to the development of the deviant self-image of “prostitute. The experiences we will consider are age at first intercourse, early sources of information about sex, sub-

studies

with first sexual partner, number of ‘significant rape.

AT

‘ ‘

FIRST

It is difficult

INTERCOURSE

to compare

data

from

different

studies

on age at first intercourse because of varying methods ofdata presentation. For example, Sorensen’s data (5) on age at first intercourse do not differ significantly from the results in study 2 except that a larger number of subjects in the latter study had their first intercourse at age 12 or younger (13% versus 7%). However, since 48% of Sorensen’s total sample had not had intercourse, we can conclude only that there seems to be a section of the general adolescent population, of which the subjects of studies 1 and 2 are members, who are more sexually active at an earlier age than the norm.

Other

studies

support

the

conclusion

that

our

sub-

jects initiated sexual activity at a younger age than the general population. Kantner and Zelnik (6) compared age at first intercourse for the black and white members oftheir sample. They found that 54% oftheir black subjects experienced first coitus between the ages of 15 and 19 (74.9% ofthem by age 18), whereas only 23% of the white subjects had their first experience at those ages (19.9% by age 18). In the study 2 population, 56.6% reported first intercourse between the ages of 15 and 19 (36% had had intercourse before that age), and 91.9% ofthe sample had had coitus by age 18. In striking contrast is the figure of 17% nonvirgins at age 18 found by Simon and associates (7) in a sample limited to college students. Four-fifths of the adolescents in study 1 had their first sexual intercourse at age 14 or younger. Although information on sexual experiences before first intercourse was not elicited in the questionnaires in studies 1 and 2, extensive interviews revealed a pattern similar to the one found by Davis (8) Am

J Psychiatry

134:12,

December

1977

1381

EARLY

SEXUAL

in her

study

EXPERIENCE

AND

of 30 prostitutes:

ty’ pattern

typical

in evidence

here.

of the First

PROSTITUTION

‘The middle-class

‘technical female

‘

sexual

contacts

volved sexual intercourse, with ing an initial petting experience.”

only

virginiwas not

typically

one

girl

TABLE

1

Subsequent

Intercourse

report-

Eastman (N=43) Frequency

EARLY

SOURCES

The ies

first

questions

1 and

sources

OF

INFORMATION

relating

2 attempted

of early

63.2% of questions

to

information

the adolescent on sexual

ABOUT

to sexual elicit

about

sex.

subjects-toward history were

in stud-

subjects’

37%,

Adding

the

study

1 (3),

whom aimed-learned

2 category

versus

3%).

Wittels’

final

of “siblings’

‘

to

category,

the latter of parental

in 1973. guidance

in sexual

matters

is

one aspect of the general weakness of the parent-child relationship that is typical of many prostitutes (8, 1016). Whether the parent-child relationship is marked by simple neglect by absence or by outright psychological

or physical

abuse,

the

result

for

the

14.0 14.0 27.8 44.2

Percent

45 15 25 48

33.8 11.3 18.8 36.1*

*Includes

categories:

TABLE Number

2 of Sexual

1 1-20 times,’

‘

8.3%;

and “regularly,”

27.8%

Partners

Kinsey

Partners

and Associates (N=l220)

Number

1 2-5 6-10 11-20 2lormore *Customers

in Two Samples

647 415 85 49 24 are excluded

in figures

of Women*

(18)

Study (2) (N=135)

Percent

Number

53 34 7 4 2

4 25 37 22 47

for study

Percent 3.0 18.5 27.4 16.3 34.8

2.

“other

adults,” has no counterpart in study 2. The 17% Wittels found in this category must balance against the categories of “books,” 10.3%; “church,” 0.7%; andperhaps the most significant difference from Wittels’ study and a possibility he apparently did not consider-”personal experience,” 14%. Sorensen (5) found that 3 1% of his sample had learned about birth control and 33% about venereal disease from their parents. These figures approximate Wittels’ 34% figure for the role of parents and reemphasize the contrast with the study 2 finding of 15.4%. The close agreement between Wittels’ and Sorensen’s data on this point is particularly striking given that the former study was conducted in 195 1 and This lack

6 6 12 19

Number

the

that of “friends” to produce an “other children” grouping increases the figure for this category to 44.9%. The role of teachers in sex education was somewhat smaller in study 2 than in Wittels’ study (5.9% versus 9%), as was the influence of physicians (1.5%

Percent

major

In study

about sexual intercourse from friends (36.9%) or personal experiences (26.3%). Study 2 produced more detailed information (4). The role of parents as sex educators was considerably less in study 2, the more recent sample, than in Wittels’ 195 1 study (9) (15.4% versus 34%). Friends continue to be the major source: Wittels found a figure of 42.7% and the study 2 figure was

Study 2 (4) (N=l33)

(17)

Number

Neveragain l-2times 3-lOtimes llormoretimes

SEX

history

the

with First Coital Partner

in-

child

is gener-

ally considered to be alienation from the parents and a consequent inability-the severity of which depends on the circumstances-to adequately socialize the conventional mores of ‘respectable” society.

statistical comparison of the number of times subjects in various studies had intercourse with their first coital partner. It seems obvious, however, that the most significant difference between the results in study 2 and those from studies of “normal” populations is the percentage reporting no further intercourse with their first

partner.

In study

2, 33.8%

reported

they

had no further

sexual relationship with their first partner, whereas other studies found figures of l0%-l5%. Table I cornpares findings from study 2 with those of Eastman (17). That the superficial, nonemotional nature of the first sexual intercourse of many of these women initiated a series of such encounters is supported by the fact that

the mean

number

of private

(i.e.,

not for profit)

sexual

partners of subjects in study 2 was 23 Even more significant is the fact that the mean number of persons with whom these subjects felt they had developed a “significant relationship” was only 5: 17.8% reported more than 10 and 71 .6% reported 5 or less. Table 2 compares data from study 2 on numbers of sexual partners with data from Kinsey and associates (18). .

‘

INCEST SUBSEQUENT PARTNER

INTERCOURSE AND

NUMBER

WITH OF

In their

FIRST

associates perienced

SIGNIFICANT

RELATIONS

The versus 1382

use

of different

“5 to 10 times”) Am

J Psychiatry

groupings makes 134:12,

(e.g., “5 to 6 times” it difficult to do a strict December

1977

AND

RAPE

1953 report

on female

sexuality,

Kinsey

and

(18) found that 24% oftheir sample had exat least one sexual advance by an older male (defined as being at least 5 years older than the subject); they stated that the percentage would have been greater if the sample population had included more

JENNIFERJAMES

TABLE 3 Adult Perpetrators

of Sexual Advances

ANDJANE

MEYERDING

Toward Children

Kinsey Associates

and (18)

Gagn

on (19)

Study

2 (4)

Dc Fran

Adult

N

%

N

%

N

%

Stranger Friend or acquaintance* Father Stepfather** Fosterfather Otherrelative*** Total

559 344 43

48.7 29.9 3.7

195 88

58.5 26.5 1.5

13 27

20.6 42.8

63 93

25.0 37.0

4

6.4

33

13.0

9

14.3

35

14.0

28 252

11.0

5

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

204 1150

17.7

*In Study 2, the category was ‘family friend.” **De Francis’ category was “parent surrogate.” Offenders ***Kinsey’s categories included “uncles.” 9%; “brothers,”

45 333

were virtually 3%; “grandfathers,”

13.5

all male. 2%; “other

lower-class respondents. This figure and Gagnon’s later figure of28% (19), contrast sharply with the findings in study 2: 46% responded affirmatively to the question “Prior to your first intercourse, did any older person [defined as more than ten years older] attempt sexual play or intercourse with you?” Kinsey and associates (18), Gagnon (19), and De Francis (20) attempted to ascertain the relative incidence of participation by various categories of males in such sexual advances (see table 3). Comparing data from study 2 with those of Kinsey and associates and Gagnon, it is apparent that the findings in the categories of “strangers” and “father figures” are very different: 3.7% of the perpetrators in Kinsey’s study and 1.5% in Gagnon’s work were fathers, whereas study 2 found that 25.5% were fathers, stepfathers, or foster fathers. Combining the percentages of fathers and ‘other relatives’ in these three studies gives the following totals for sexual experiences with an “incestuous” character: Kinsey and associates, 21.4%; Gagnon, 15%; and study 2, 36.6%. De Francis’ data more closely approximate those from study 1 He found that 27% of such offenders were father figures; 38% were relatives.’ In study 1, 13 of the 20 adolescent subjects reported having had a ‘forced/bad sexual ‘2 the majority of which (II of 13) occurred when the subject was 15 or younger. In many cases the men responsible were fathers (23. 1%) or other relatives (15.4%). Of the total sample of 20, one-fourth had experienced a negative sexual relationship with a relative. Sgroi (21) also reported that ‘The most frequently named perpetrator in cases of sexual abuse (of children) is the father or a male relative or [mother’s] boyfriend.” None of the studies of ‘normal’ female sexual experience available for comparison included statistics ‘

‘

.

‘

‘

‘

3 7 63

‘

relatives.”

N

cis (20)

4.8 11.1

%

-

-

5%.

on the number of subjects who experienced the use of force in their first intercourse. In study 2, 23% of the subjects reported that they had been subjected to physical force in their first intercourse, and 7.4% felt they had been victims of emotional coercion. More than half (57.4%) of the study 2 sample reported that they had been raped at least once in their lives. Of these, 36.2% had been raped more than once, and 7.5% had been raped by multiple assailants.

DISCUSSION

Societal reactions to juvenile female sexual activity may influence the entrance of some young women into prostitution, especially those who are more sexually active and less discreet than the majority of their peers, as seems to have been the case with the subjects in studies 1 and 2. Choisy (I 1) asked, “At what number of lovers is a girl supposed to lose the status of a decent person?’ Cams (22) stated that ‘A woman’s decision to enter coitus implies that she is creating for herself a sexual status which will have a relatively pervasive distribution she will be evaluated downwardly. Such is the nature of the male bond.” Girls learn early society’s moral valuation of their sexuality. For example, in discussing her childhood sex education, one streetwalker stated, ‘I think the basic theme of the whole thing was that it was a dirty thing but that it was a duty for a woman to perform and if you fooled around, you were a prostitute. Female promiscuity, real or imputed, virtually guarantees loss of status in our majority culture: one hears such statements as “I got pregnant and was kicked out of the house and school” or “I was accused ofbeing promiscuous while I was still a virgin. They did that because I used to run around with a lot of guys. The labeling implied by such loss of status may be an important step in the process by which a woman comes to identify with a deviant lifestyle such as prostitution and thus begins to see it as a viable alternative. Davis (8) described this process in her discussion on the effects of institutionalization: ‘

‘

.

.

.

.

.

.

‘

,

‘ ‘

‘ ‘

‘It should be noted that De Francis’ sample population is strongly biased in the opposite direction from those of Kinsey and associates and Gagnon. i.e. . toward the lower class, and his sample consisted of ‘ ‘cases’ ‘ serious enough to come to the attention of police or child protection agencies. ‘Sexual experience cluded both physical self-report indicated

is defined as intercourse. and emotional coercion she was sexually used

The force involved inin which the subject’s against her will.

Am

J Psychiatry

134:12,

December

1977

1383

EARLY

SEXUAL

The

EXPERIENCE

adolescent

promiscuity

her

.

girl .

identity.

deviants.

role

gaining

prestige

who

Intimate .

.

PROSTITUTION

labeled

and

provide

thus

through

experimentation

sex

a

experience with an

resolve

the

for about

sophisticated

incentive

association

in the deviant

offender

a conflict

association

may .

is

initially

however,

hustler later,

may

.

AND

to

status with

learn

the

anxiety

by

deviants,

role.

and

(8, p. 305)

Even in noninstitutionalized women, the labeling impact of status loss must have a strong effect on selfimage. The woman may attempt to rebuild her selfimage by moving into a subculture where the wider society’s negative labeling will not impede her efforts toward a higher status-although that status itself will be perceived as negative by the wider society. Of the prostitutes in study 2, 44.9% reported that they had ‘gotten into trouble’ because of their sexual activity while they were juveniles. No matter how negative the long-term effects of juvenile promiscuity on a woman’s social status are, the short-term effects may often seem quite positive to her. Young women who suffer from parental abuse or neglect, a common pattern for prostitutes, may be especially susceptible to the advantages of what Greenwald (15) called “early rewarded sex engaging in some form of sexual activity with an adult for which they were rewarded. [These women] discovered at an early age that they could get some measure of affection, of interest, by giving sexual gratification.” This type of positive reinforcement for sexual behavior, particularly when coupled with the cultural stereotype of women as primarily sexual beings, may cause some women to perceive their sexuality as their primary means for gaining status. Davis noted that Sex as a status tool is exploited to gain male attention” (8). All women in our culture must in some way come to terms with the fact that their personal value is often considered inseparable from their sexual value. ‘

‘

.

.

.

‘ ‘

While ability.

men their

are

also

opinion

concerned ofthemselves

with

their

is not

sexual

founded

desirprimari-

ly on that desirability, for occupational achievement provides an important alternative to a self-identification based on sexual desirability. The alternatives available to females are fewer and generally carry lower social esteem. resulting

sexual

in

an

desirability.

inordinately (2.

high p.

value

being

placed

on

180)

The effect of incest on the child involved is virtually unknown. Some researchers, e.g. Jaffe and associates (23), preferred not to make a judgment, noting that “Little is known of the physical and emotional effects ofincest.” Ferracuti (24) stated that “it is hardly proved that participation in incest results in psychological disturbances. He noted, however, that “Frequently [victims of incest] become sexually promiscuous after the end of the incestuous conduct.” De Francis (20) found guilt, shame, and loss of selfesteem to be the usual reactions of the child victims of both incestuous and nonincestuous sex offenses. These feelings often led to disruptive, rebellious be,

.

.

havior, and some older (i.e. adolescent) victims later become prostitutes. Sexual abuse that continues over a long period oftime, as is usual with incest, was found by Gagnon (19) to be “extremely disorganizing in its impact” on the victim. Weiner (25) echoed Ferracuti in stating that “girls who begin incest in adolescence frequently become prostitutes following termination of the incest.” The incidence of rape experiences among the study I and study 2 populations, especially among the adolescents in study I is so high that these samples present the characteristics of an especially victimized group. Although the subjects’ identities as rape victims or nonrape victims were not in any way considered in the sampling procedures, 65% of the adolescent prostitutes had been the victims ofcoerced sexual activities. The 57.4% of the study 2 sample who had experienced rape, including 36.2% who were multiple rape victims, is also disproportionate compared with wider samples of women. When the societal stereotyping of women as primarily sexual beings is expressed through the violence of rape, the psychological effect on the victim may be one of reinforcing her self-concept as a sexual object and further isolating her emotions from her sexuality. ,

,

CONCLUSIONS

The prostitutes in the two studies we have considered shared a range of negative sexual experiences that-in conjunction with other circumstances and experiences-may have influenced them toward accepting prostitution as a lifestyle. The pattern that emerges includes I) lack of parental guidance that leads to early, casual sexual intercourse to the exclusion of the more usual noncoital sociosexual experimentation; 2) the discovery that sex can be used to gain a kind of social status, coupled with the subsequent discovery that this status is perceived by others as negative, making the individual unacceptable to the majority culture; and 3) the emotionally destructive experiences of incest and rape. Because the range of acceptable sexual behaviors is much narrower for women than for men, and because women more than men are judged (by themselves and by others) on the basis of their sexual desirability and behavior, sexual experiences may be a more important factor in a woman’s development of self-identity. A woman who views herself as sexually debased or whose sexuality is more than normally objectified may see prostitution as a ‘natural’ ‘-or as the only-alternative. ‘

.

‘ ‘

1384

Am

J Psychiatry

134:12,

December

1977

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2:722a preto the

JENNIFER

4.

Division of Research. Olympia. and Health Services, 1971 James J, Gosho C: Early sexual

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AND

ofPolitical

and

Elegant

Prostitute.

Social

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MEYERDING

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Books, 1970 Gray D: Turning-out: a study of teen-age prostitution. Urban Life and Culture 1:401-425, 1973 Eastman W: First intercourse: some statistics on who, where, when, and why. Sexual Behavior 2:22-27, 1972 Kinsey A, Pomeroy W, Martin C, et al: Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Philadelphia. WB Saunders Co, 1953 Gagnon J: Female child victims ofsex offenses. Social Problems 13:176-192, 1965 Dc Francis V: Protecting the Child Victim of Sex Crimes Committed by Adults: Final Report. Denver. Cob, American Humane Association, Children’s Division, 1969 Sgroi 5: Sexual molestation of children: the last frontier in child abuse. Child Today 4:18-21, 1975 Carns D: Talking about sex: notes on first coitus and the double sexual standard. Journal of Marriage and Family 35:677-688, 1973 Jaffe A. Dynneson L, Ten Bensel R: Sexual abuse of children. Am J Dis Child 129:689-692, 1975 Ferracuti F: Incest between father and daughter, in Sexual Behaviors: Social, Clinical, and Legal Aspects. Edited by Resnik H, Wolfgang E. Boston, Little Brown & Co. 1972, pp 169-183 Weiner I: On incest: a survey. Excerpta Criminologica 4: 137155, 1964

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J Psvchiatr’

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December

1977

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