Rational decision‐making among male street prostitutes

Calhoun, Thomas C.; Weaver, Greg S.

doi:10.1080/01639625.1996.9968023

Cited by 42 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…From a rational decision-making perspective, people are expected to select the highest reward behavior associated with the fewest negative outcomes (Calhoun & Weaver, 1996;Pinkerton & Abramson, 1992). This view would suggest that the MSWs in our study saw less incentive and/or more risk in sexual situations with clients relative to non-clients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Sexual Behavior, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Agency-Based Male Escorts in a Small U.S. City

Smith

Seal

2008

International Journal of Sexual Health

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Relatively little research has examined the personal sex lives of indoor male sex workers (MSWs) or possible connections in this group between sexual behavior and factors related to HIV risk. As part of a larger project, this study collected data from 30 agency-based indoor MSWs (mean = 22.4 years) about their sexual behavior, mental health, and substance use. Few HIV risk behaviors with clients occurred. Drug use and mental health problems were relatively frequent, but not related to increased risk behavior. Instead, MSWs appeared to employ rational decision-making and harmreduction strategies. Conceptualization of MSW sexual behavior may be required where HIV risk is not attributed to sex work per se, but to other influences such as economic and relational factors. KeywordsSex work; prostitution; male sex worker; HIV risk behavior; HIV; mental health; substance use; sexual behavior During the past 20 years, much of the literature on the sexual behavior of male sex workers (MSWs) has focused on HIV risk behavior with clients. This line of study likely grew from concerns that MSWs may have been introducing HIV into the sexual networks of people who hired them (Bimbi, 2007). Thus, some researchers postulated that MSWs could be a transmission vector into less vulnerable populations (Morse, Simon, Osofsky, Balson, & Gaumer, 1991). Most of this initial research examined men working in a single type of venue, the street (Vanwesenbeeck, 2001). Street-based MSWs (i.e., hustlers) were found to exhibit relatively frequent sexual risk behaviors (Simon, Morse, Osofsky, & Balson, 1994), especially when they engaged in sex work to obtain basic needs or when they were using injection drugs (Estep, Waldorf, & Marotta, 1992). High rates of HIV risk also were found with non-clients due to unprotected sex and injection drugs (Rietmeijer, Wolitski, Fishbein, Corby, & Cohn, 1998). One study of street-based MSWs in Manhattan found that men reported the least sexual risk with paid clients, greater risk with male partners for pleasure, and the most risk with female partners for pleasure (Pleak & Meyer-Bahlburg, 1990). However, this study did not explore contextual factors accounting for the observed differences in sexual risk among these three types of partners.Address correspondence to: Michael Smith, PsyD, Psychology Department, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA 17870 (smithmichaeld@susqu.edu). NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptInt J Sex Health. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 September 23. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSubsequent examination of MSWs who work in other settings has presented a more complex view. Independent and agency-based MSWs (i.e., escorts) exhibit fewer HIV risk behaviors with clients than men working on the street (Minichiello, Marino, Browne, Jamieson, Reuter, & Robinson, 2000;Simon, Morse, Osofsky, Balson, & Gaumer, 1992). Further, a growing body of research has suggested that indoor MSWs engage in less HIV risk behavior with clients than the...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Sexual Behavior, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Agency-Based Male Escorts in a Small U.S. City

Smith

Seal

2008

International Journal of Sexual Health

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“…Observational techniques have been used to good effect in the past to study marginal and hidden populations, including sex worker populations (Calhoun & Weaver, 1996;Dorais, 2005;Davies & Feldman, 1999;Atkins, 2013;Whowell, 2010 MSWs if they would like to be interviewed for the study and providing they gave verbal consent arrangements were made to conduct the interview at a later date. This usually took place in a nearby coffee shop, a bar in the Village or sometimes in a McDonald's restaurant.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While one can accept the agency implied in Calhoun and Weaver's (1996) analysis it nevertheless needs to be tempered and complemented by a more structural narrative. In other words, for MSWs rational decision-making takes place within a predefined set of structural constraints.…”

Section: Theorising Male Street-prostitution In Manchestermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first relates to the theory of rational decision-making among male street-based sex workers developed by Calhoun and Weaver (1996) that is drawn from broader classical theories in sociology and criminology. In overall terms Calhoun and that claim young men are pushed into selling sex by structural factors such as poverty.…”

Section: Theorising Male Street-prostitution In Manchestermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of behavioural characteristics of MSWs have also been noted. These include heavy drug and alcohol consumption, involvement in petty criminality and a tendency to drift in and out of prostitution (Atkins, 2013;Dorais, 2005;Calhoun & Weaver 1996;McCabe 2011;West, 1993;Calhoun & Weaver, 2001). Other researchers have begun to document the intersection of the digital economy and male sex work, suggesting that the rise of the Internet has largely displaced commercial sex away from traditional solicitation venues such as the street (Ashford, 2009;Walby, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Drifters, Party Boys and Incumbents: The Life Patterns of Male Street-based Sex Workers

Ellison

2017

Sociology

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This paper is based on a qualitative study of male street-based prostitution. It suggests that the street-based sector is more varied, with sellers adopting a wider range of working practices, than is commonly acknowledged in the literature on male prostitution. Drawing on data from Manchester, England I identify a number of 'life patterns' among male street sellers that reflect varied working practices based on issues around rational decision-making and the sex worker's relationship to place and environment. The discussion has implications for urban policies around street-based sex work but also for a more general understanding of male sex work in international and comparative perspective.

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Diversity at the Margins: The Interconnections Between Homelessness, Sex Work, Mental Health, and Substance Use in the Lives of Sexual Minority Homeless Young People

Frederick

2013

Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice

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Rational decision‐making among male street prostitutes

Cited by 42 publications

References 21 publications

Sexual Behavior, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Agency-Based Male Escorts in a Small U.S. City

Sexual Behavior, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Agency-Based Male Escorts in a Small U.S. City

Drifters, Party Boys and Incumbents: The Life Patterns of Male Street-based Sex Workers

Diversity at the Margins: The Interconnections Between Homelessness, Sex Work, Mental Health, and Substance Use in the Lives of Sexual Minority Homeless Young People

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