Lives in the life: Exploring the lived experience of prostitution through narrative.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Sabella Monheit, Donna.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminology.

Women's studies.

Mental health.

0347.

0453.

0627.

Local Subjects:

0347.

0453.

0627.

Physical Description:

422 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 72-05A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

Among people most stigmatized and held in contempt worldwide are women involved in prostitution. The women are discounted and discredited by society at large and rarely are they given the opportunity to speak up and talk about themselves and their experiences of being in the life. The present study, through the use of phenomenological and narrative analysis, examines the narratives of fifteen women formerly involved in prostitution and takes a narrative phenomenological approach to investigate the lived experience of prostitution and how the women make sense of their experiences in prostitution through narrative. Participants were selected for maximum variation among women formerly involved in prostitution in two large American cities. Personal interviews were conducted with each participant in order to elicit narratives of their experiences; and van Manen's (1990) phenomenological framework was employed to analyze these narratives. This dissertation examines five major themes that emerged from the data: (1) In the Life, (2), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, (3) Identity, (4) Agency, and (5) Lived Relation. The findings reveal that prostitution was primarily a means to an end for these women and that, despite many negative aspects of their experiences, the positive aspects of 'being in the life' served to keep women involved in prostitution. In addition, the importance of relationships was evident in the women's narratives with regard to their entry, time involved in the life and exit from prostitution. The women's construction of their identity and experiences in these narratives differed from how the master narratives define and construct their identity and experiences. The findings critically call into question understandings of prostitution derived from master narratives and dominant discourses about this particular population and afford a better understanding of the complex nature of prostitution and the women's diverse experiences. The clinical implications of those findings are discussed in terms of how to work with, support, and provide care and treatment to women involved in prostitution.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-05, Section: A, page: 1807.

Adviser: Kathryn M. Howard.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

ISBN:

9781124515595

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.