Sociology: Rent Boys

Résumé du document

This is a final year dissertation for a Sociology degree. The topic is Rent Boys and the study is the social construction of male prostitution. It is a study investigating the causes that lead to male prostitution and a look into the industry and it explores the background of various young men and their motivations and the psychology and social construct into prostitution for men and young boys.

Extraits

[...] code of secrecy . ' in which communication was frequently conducted through ` . innuendo or sign language.'. Despite their obvious friendships, the behaviour of rent boys is frequently described as chaotic and power struggles within the group can be witnessed, possibly as a result of emotional difficulties experienced by the boys and the ` . highly competitive employment market . ' under which they operate that renders their relationships unstable (Allesbrook and Swift 1989:138). THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD For every grown individual, the period during childhood is very important, as this is what shapes an individual in later life. [...]

[...] According to Case " Some guys consider themselves to be gay, straight or bi . I don't care for these labels . they don't matter to me . I consider myself to be just a guy only . if you call yourself gay, then that's your right . If another guy does it to me, it doesn't make me less of a man. I like girls too. I can do both and still remain a man. Those other guys, that do it only with men for pleasure . [...]

[...] sense.'. (1989:176-7). This provides a rational view of prostitution as a means of survival, when life options are limited. Studies carried out by researchers show that the majority of boys involved in prostitution are runaways and it is as a result of this homelessness that has reduced many to prostitution and has rendered them susceptible, to those who prey on young boys, ` . luring them . into oblivion.' (Wooden 1976 in Schaffer and DeBlassie 1984:691). For McMullen (1988:35) it may be an act of ` . [...]

[...] Bibliography 2. Appendices Chapter 1 A - Introduction DEFINITION OF MALE PROSTITUTION There has been very little research devoted to the etiology of male prostitution. This is extremely surprising in light of the fact that there have been countless publications on the topic of female prostitution. Sex work or prostitution is defined for the purpose of this research, as `any activity consisting in the provision of sexual services solely or primarily for remuneration' (Dorais 2003). Male prostitutes are popularly referred to nowadays, as `rent boys' or `male escorts'. [...]

[...] Liberal upbringing and a bit of a `wild child'. The results below are based upon answers provided to interview questions (from my questionnaire). Although not all questions were answered, these results are based only upon all positive responses given by participants. FIGURES AND TABLES DATA COLLATION AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS 1.1. Childhood and Family background In this section, respondents were asked questions about their childhood and their relationship with their parents. As shown above, only 4 respondents had a stable family with both their parents, while growing up. [...]