Peculiarities of Self-Concept in Women Practicing Commercial Sex

The article presents the results of studying the specifics of self-concept in women, practicing commercial sex. 61 women aged 18-37 were examined, with 32 of them working in "intimacy parlors" (M±SD=25,94±5,30) and 29 socially adapted women (M±SD=27,69±4,69). It was checked whether there are differences in personality organization between the women engaged in prostitution and the socially adapted ones. It is revealed that the women engaged in sex-services don't feel themselves belonging to their professional community or their particular social standing. They associate their interests, resources and leisure time with the time they spend at work, and are also distinguished by deficient responsibility and inconstancy; from those around them such women expect stereotypical attitude towards themselves. In psychologically meaningful and stressful situations they tend to lower their mental and emotional strain or avoid it through deviant behavior. Prostitutes are distinguished by strong tendencies towards depression, suppressed aggression and self-aggression. Significant correlation has been established between prostitutes' self-attitude and their psychological make-up (sovereignty of their psychological personal space, aggressiveness, coping behavior).

1. Antonyan Yu.M. Kriminologiya. Izbrannye lekcii [Criminology. Selected Lectures] // Moscow: «Logos». 2004. 448 p. (In Russ.).
2. Golenishcheva T.Yu., Kudryavtseva S.V. Psikhologicheskiye korrelyaty zhenskoy prostitutsii [Psychological correlates of female prostitution] IV Freudian readings. Collection of scientific papers based on the materials of the international scientific and practical conference / Ed. M.M. Reshetnikov. Saint-Petersburg: Eastern European Institute of Psychoanalysis. 2019. pp. 282 — 296. (In Russ.).
3. Golosenko I.A., Golod S.I. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya prostitucii v Rossii: istoriya i sovremennoe sostoyanie voprosa [Sociological studies of prostitution in Russia: history and current status of the issue]. Institut sociologii RAN. S.-Peterburgskij filial. Saint-Petersburg: «Petropolis», 1998. 127 p. (In Russ.).
4. Dmitrieva N.V., Levina L.V. Istoriya prostitucii. Podhody i paradigmy [The history of prostitution. Approaches and Paradigms] // Universum: psihologiya i obrazovanie. OOO «Mezhdunarodnyj centr nauki i obrazovaniya», 2013, no. 1, 15 p. (In Russ.).
5. Il'ina S.V. Emocional'nyj opyt nasiliya i pogranichnaya lichnostnaya organizaciya pri rasstrojstvah lichnosti. Diss. kand. psikhol. nauk.  [The emotional experience of violence and borderline personality organization in personality disorders]. Moscow, 2000. 220 p. (In Russ.).
6. Kogut Kh. Vosstanovleniye samosti [Restoring the self] Moscow: Kogito-Tsentr, 2002. 316 p. (In Russ.).
7. Kon I.S. Klubnichkanaberyozke: Seksual'nayakul'tura v Rossii [Strawberry on a birch: Sexual culture in Russia]. Vremya, 2010. 608 p. (In Russ.).
8. Korolenko Ts.P., Dmitriyeva N.V. Osobennosti deviantnogo povedeniya zhenshchin, zanimayushchikhsya prostitutsiyey [Features of deviant behavior of women engaged in prostitution] Bulletin of the P.P. Ershov Institute of Pedagogy, 2014, no. 5 (17). Pedagogy and Psychology. pp.129 — 133. (In Russ.).
9. Korotkova Ye.V. Psikhologicheskoye zdorov'ye zhenshchin, realizuyushchikh rentno-promiskuitetnoye povedeniye [Psychological health of women implementing rental-promiscuous behavior]. North-Caucasian psychological bulletin, 2009, no. 7/2, pp. 73 — 80. (In Russ.).
10. Maksimov A.M. Psikhologicheskiye issledovaniya muzhskoy gomoseksual'noy prostitutsii [Psychological studies of male homosexual prostitution]. Counseling psychology and psychotherapy,  2011, no. 1, pp.137 —135. (In Russ.).
11. Nashkhoyev M.R. Psikhologicheskiye osobennosti zhenshchin, zanimayushchikhsya ulichnym seksbiznesom [Psychological features of women engaged in street sex business]. IPPP, 2000,  no. 6, pp.31 — 37. (In Russ.).
12. Rusakova M.M. Opyt «nakoplennykh neudach» zhenshchin, vovlechennykh v prostitutsiyu [Experience of "accumulated failures" of women involved in prostitution]. Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. Sociology, 2018. Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 439 — 454. (In Russ.).
13. Rusakova M.M. Vliyanie perenesyonnogo v detstve seksual'nogo nasiliya na vovlechenie zhenshchin v prostituciyu [The impact of childhood sexual abuse on the involvement of women in prostitution] // Peterburgskaya sociologiya segodnya [Petersburg sociology today], 2009. T.1, pp. 354 — 359. (In Russ.).
14. Rusakova M.M. Transformaciya ponyatiya «prostituciya»v obshchestvennyh naukah v kontekstesocial'nogo kontrolya:istoriya i sovremennost' [Transformation of the concept of “prostitution” in the social sciences in the context of social control: history and modernity] // Vestnik SPbGU. [Bulletin of St. Petersburg University] Ser. 12, 2010. Vyp. 2, pp. 40 — 48. (In Russ.).
15. Sokolova Ye.T. Klinicheskaya psikhologiya utraty YA [Clinical psychology of the loss of Ego]. Moscow: Smysl, 2015. 895 p. (In Russ.).
16. Shalagin A.Ye. Prostitutsiya kak sotsial'no-negativnoye yavleniye i yeye obshchestvennaya opasnost'. [Prostitution as a socially negative phenomenon and its social danger]. Actual problems of economics and law, 2012, no. 1, pp.295 — 298. (In Russ.).
17. Shatyr Yu.A., Mulik I.G., Ulesikova I.V., Delaryu V.V., Mulik A.B Sistematizatsiya faktorov formirovaniya sotsial'nykh deviatsiy [Systematization of factors of the formation of social deviation], Logos et Praxis, 2017. Vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 136 — 144. (In Russ.).
18. Yakovleva A. A. Globalizaciya seksual'nogo nasiliya: ot prostitucii k transnacional'noj seksual'noj industrii [Globalization of Sexual Violence: From Prostitution to the Transnational Sexual Industry] // Gendernye issledovaniya [Gender studies], 2003, no. 7-8, pp. 226—245. (In Russ.).
19. Barry K. The Prostitution of Sexuality // New York. New York University Press, 1995. P. 381.
20. Basserman L. The Oldest Proffession: A History of Prostitution // New York, 1994. P. 312.
21. Farley M. 2004. Prostitution, trafficking and traumatic stress. Routledge. 1st Edition. Routledge. P. 384.
22. Farley M., Barkan H. 1998. Prostitution, Violence Against Women, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Women & Health, 1998.Vol. 27(3), pp. 37 — 49.
23. Pateman C. The Sexual Contract // Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988. P. 261.
24. Potterat J.J., Muth S., Darrow W. 1998. Pathways to Prostitution: The Chronology of Sexual Abuse and Drug Abuse Milestones. Journal of Sex Research. November. at: Ebsco Host Information Access, 25 February 1999.
25. Wardlou R. Lectures on female prostitution. Glasgow, 1853. P. 190.
26. Weitzer R. Legalizing Prostitution. From Illicit to Lawful Business // New York: New York University Press, 2011. P. 288.
27. Widom C.S., Kuhns J.B. Childhood victimization and subsequent risk for promiscuity, prostitution, and teenage pregnancy: A prospective study // American Journal of Public Health, 1996, no. 86 (11), pp. 1607—1612.