Subst Use Misuse Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 11/05/14 For personal use only.
The International Journal of the Addictions, 27(1 I), 1283-1292, 1992
Substance Use/Misuse among Female Prostitutes and Female Arrestees Joseph 8. Kuhns 111, M.A., Kathleen M. Heide, Ph.D., and Ira Silverman, Ph.D. University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
ABSTRACT The literature has documented the correlation between prostitution and drug uselmisuse. This study probed demographics, drug use experimentation and frequency, age of first drug use, and drug use treatment among 53 female prostitutes and 47 female arrestees. The results indicated that: 1) prostitutes were likely to drop out of school; 2) significantly more prostitutes had tried drugs, had used drugs with greater frequency and had begun drug/alcohol use at younger ages. These results imply that: 1) early drug/alcohol use and withdrawal from school could leave young women vulnerable and at higher risk of becoming involved in prostitution; and 2) drug use treatment and intervention needs to begin at younger ages.
INTRODUCTION A large portion of prostitutes will become drug users at some point in their lives (Lemert, 1981; Plant et al., 1989; Weisberg, 1985), either turning to prostitution as a way of supporting a drug habit or initiating drug use after becoming involved in prostitution. Differences in the types of drugs used among different types of prostitutes have also been noted (Marshall and Hendtlass, 1986; Goldstein, 1979). Feinman (1980) found that females who are drug dependent also involve themselves in petty crimes including prostitution. Prior to this study, however, no information measured the extent to which prostitution drug use compares with female arrestees’ drug use. 1283
Copyright 01992 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.
I284
KUHNS, HEIDE, A N D SILVERMAN
Subst Use Misuse Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 11/05/14 For personal use only.
SUBJECTS AND DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT The 100 subjects were arrestees detained at the Hillsborough County (Florida) Work Release Center (HCWRC). The senior author, after extensive training, preparation, and piloting of the instrument, conducted interviews lasting about 45 minutes each on weekdays at the HCWRC from November 1989 to January 1990. Minimal skills were required by the subjects (questions were read, showcards were used). Subjects were told they were participating in a University research project. Less than 5 % of offenders refused participation. Prior to interviewing, the instant offense of the jail population was examined to identify women arrested on prostitution- and nonprostitution-related charges. Given the limited number of women arrested for prostitution-related charges, all individuals charged with these offenses were asked to participate. A probability sample of prostitute and nonprostitute arrestees was not obtained, therefore the sample was neither randomized nor necessarily representative of female arrestees entering the HCWRC. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) “AIDS Initial Assessment Questionnaire” was used. As a result of the pilot work, some questions were altered, others were discarded, and additional questions probing arrest history were added. Preliminary screening of the interview data revealed there were very few reported intravenous drug users (7 of 100) making further investigation of this variable not possible in this study.
INVOLVEMENT IN PROSTITUTION Involvement in prostitution was measured in two ways. First, each respondent was asked to report the total number of arrests for prostitution in the past year, including offering to commit prostitution, soliciting or loitering for prostitution, or other prostitution-type charges. The total numbers of such related arrests were added together, resulting in a mean prostitution arrest score of 1.59 in the past year (range = 0 to 24). A check of the Hillsborough County arrest records for the 51 females who reported no prostitution arrests in the past year revealed only 3 had been arrested on a prostitution charge, providing convincing evidence of the validity of the self-reported information. Prostitution involvement was also measured by the number of times each woman reported she had engaged in prostitution in the past year. The answers ranged from 0 to 5,000, (mean = 487). The prostitutes were defined as those who reported engaging in prostitution at least once in that year; 53 prostitutes and 47 nonprostitutes were categorized according to these criteria.
1285
SUBSTANCE USE/MISUSE AMONG FEMALE PROSTITUTES
Subst Use Misuse Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 11/05/14 For personal use only.
RESULTS No significant demographic differences were found between the prostitutes and nonprostitutes (Table 1). Prostitute arrestees reported an earlier age at first intoxication with alcohol (mean 14.61 vs 16.58, t-value = 2.48, p < .05) and began drinking alcohol daily approximately 5 years earlier (mean 16.86 vs 21.7, t-value = 3.29, p < .01) than nonprostitute arrestees. The mean age for reported first drug use, excluding alcohol, for prostitutes (16.88), although younger than for nonprostitutes (1 8.00), was not significantly different. Specific information on experimentation and frequency of alcohol and drug use was also collected. Statistical tests were only performed for drug categories which contained expected values greater than five (Champion, 1981). More
Table 1. Selected Demographic Information for Prostitutes and Nonprostitutes
Nonprostitutes (N = 47)
Prostitutes ( N = 53)
N
%
N
%
Race: Black Hispanic White
19 2 26
40.4 4.3 55.3
18 3 32
34.0 5.7 60.4
Education:
The International Journal of the Addictions, 27(1 I), 1283-1292, 1992
Substance Use/Misuse among Female Prostitutes and Female Arrestees Joseph 8. Kuhns 111, M.A., Kathleen M. Heide, Ph.D., and Ira Silverman, Ph.D. University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
ABSTRACT The literature has documented the correlation between prostitution and drug uselmisuse. This study probed demographics, drug use experimentation and frequency, age of first drug use, and drug use treatment among 53 female prostitutes and 47 female arrestees. The results indicated that: 1) prostitutes were likely to drop out of school; 2) significantly more prostitutes had tried drugs, had used drugs with greater frequency and had begun drug/alcohol use at younger ages. These results imply that: 1) early drug/alcohol use and withdrawal from school could leave young women vulnerable and at higher risk of becoming involved in prostitution; and 2) drug use treatment and intervention needs to begin at younger ages.
INTRODUCTION A large portion of prostitutes will become drug users at some point in their lives (Lemert, 1981; Plant et al., 1989; Weisberg, 1985), either turning to prostitution as a way of supporting a drug habit or initiating drug use after becoming involved in prostitution. Differences in the types of drugs used among different types of prostitutes have also been noted (Marshall and Hendtlass, 1986; Goldstein, 1979). Feinman (1980) found that females who are drug dependent also involve themselves in petty crimes including prostitution. Prior to this study, however, no information measured the extent to which prostitution drug use compares with female arrestees’ drug use. 1283
Copyright 01992 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.
I284
KUHNS, HEIDE, A N D SILVERMAN
Subst Use Misuse Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 11/05/14 For personal use only.
SUBJECTS AND DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT The 100 subjects were arrestees detained at the Hillsborough County (Florida) Work Release Center (HCWRC). The senior author, after extensive training, preparation, and piloting of the instrument, conducted interviews lasting about 45 minutes each on weekdays at the HCWRC from November 1989 to January 1990. Minimal skills were required by the subjects (questions were read, showcards were used). Subjects were told they were participating in a University research project. Less than 5 % of offenders refused participation. Prior to interviewing, the instant offense of the jail population was examined to identify women arrested on prostitution- and nonprostitution-related charges. Given the limited number of women arrested for prostitution-related charges, all individuals charged with these offenses were asked to participate. A probability sample of prostitute and nonprostitute arrestees was not obtained, therefore the sample was neither randomized nor necessarily representative of female arrestees entering the HCWRC. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) “AIDS Initial Assessment Questionnaire” was used. As a result of the pilot work, some questions were altered, others were discarded, and additional questions probing arrest history were added. Preliminary screening of the interview data revealed there were very few reported intravenous drug users (7 of 100) making further investigation of this variable not possible in this study.
INVOLVEMENT IN PROSTITUTION Involvement in prostitution was measured in two ways. First, each respondent was asked to report the total number of arrests for prostitution in the past year, including offering to commit prostitution, soliciting or loitering for prostitution, or other prostitution-type charges. The total numbers of such related arrests were added together, resulting in a mean prostitution arrest score of 1.59 in the past year (range = 0 to 24). A check of the Hillsborough County arrest records for the 51 females who reported no prostitution arrests in the past year revealed only 3 had been arrested on a prostitution charge, providing convincing evidence of the validity of the self-reported information. Prostitution involvement was also measured by the number of times each woman reported she had engaged in prostitution in the past year. The answers ranged from 0 to 5,000, (mean = 487). The prostitutes were defined as those who reported engaging in prostitution at least once in that year; 53 prostitutes and 47 nonprostitutes were categorized according to these criteria.
1285
SUBSTANCE USE/MISUSE AMONG FEMALE PROSTITUTES
Subst Use Misuse Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 11/05/14 For personal use only.
RESULTS No significant demographic differences were found between the prostitutes and nonprostitutes (Table 1). Prostitute arrestees reported an earlier age at first intoxication with alcohol (mean 14.61 vs 16.58, t-value = 2.48, p < .05) and began drinking alcohol daily approximately 5 years earlier (mean 16.86 vs 21.7, t-value = 3.29, p < .01) than nonprostitute arrestees. The mean age for reported first drug use, excluding alcohol, for prostitutes (16.88), although younger than for nonprostitutes (1 8.00), was not significantly different. Specific information on experimentation and frequency of alcohol and drug use was also collected. Statistical tests were only performed for drug categories which contained expected values greater than five (Champion, 1981). More
Table 1. Selected Demographic Information for Prostitutes and Nonprostitutes
Nonprostitutes (N = 47)
Prostitutes ( N = 53)
N
%
N
%
Race: Black Hispanic White
19 2 26
40.4 4.3 55.3
18 3 32
34.0 5.7 60.4
Education:
