Prostitution Policies and Attitudes Toward Prostitutes

The Role of Moral Foundations in Support for Sex Work Decriminalization by Venue

The criminal status of prostitution has received greater attention from policymakers and advocates in recent years, but systematic policy change has yet to take root in the United States. These efforts have been both motivated and challenged by a strong moral discourse, resulting in policies that are more reflective of ideology than efficacy. While the popularization of sex work through online avenues like social media has altered the traditional concept of sex work, there is an incomplete understanding of public attitudes toward decriminalization in this modern market. Using national data from 519 U.S. adults, the present study applied Moral Foundations Theory to investigate support for sex work decriminalization in three venues (brothel, online, street). Overall, results show lower support for decriminalization of street sex work compared to brothel and online sex work, and that the effects of moral foundations on support for decriminalization are consistent across all venues. Individualizing foundations (i.e. harm, fairness) do not predict support for decriminalization, while binding and liberty foundations explain some variation in support. Implications of the findings speak to the potential barriers to criminal justice reform in this area and the role of moral arguments in this dispute.

Construction and Validation of a Scale to Assess Social Judgments Toward Sex Work from the Stereotype Content Model

Sex workers (SW) are subject to social judgment and the associated attitudes, ranging from admiration to contempt. The presence of stereotypical attitudes toward SW is common and can be analyzed using the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), where the concepts of warmth and competence play a central role. The interweaving of both dimensions allows the identification of four emotions and corresponding political positions toward SW: admiration (non-interventionism), pity (abolitionism), contempt (prohibitionism), and fear (regulationism). From the SCM framework, this study offers the construction, validation and performance of a 25-item scale with a snowball sample of 1,543 participants residing in Spanish-speaking countries. The four-factor hypothesized model yielded adequate values. Internal consistency was sufficient on all factors, as was model-based reliability and convergent validity. The scale also showed measurement invariance between gender and age groups, suggesting that the measure is interpreted in a conceptually similar manner by respondents representing different genders or ages. Further analysis revealed that male participants scored significantly higher on admiration. Baby boomers showed less pity and contempt while Millennials showed more fear and less admiration. SW and those who know or work with SW showed less fear and pity and more admiration. The SCM and the process of developing social judgments offer us a way to understand the differences that underlie irreconcilable policy positions. Overcoming these differences requires mutual understanding from scientific frameworks instead of from ideological perspectives.

APPS-S: A Tool for Measuring the Attitudes Toward Prostitution and Women in Prostitution in the Spanish Population

This study was designed with the purpose of testing the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Attitudes toward Prostitution and Prostitutes Scale through three studies with different samples. The first one explores the test's dimensional structure or constructs validity through confirmatory factor analysis, as well as internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The second one focuses on discriminant and criteria validity. Finally, the third one examines the scale's convergent validity and its sensitivity to detecting changes. The results support two subscales with an optimal index of internal consistency, structural stability over time, and discriminative power between groups of participants. It is, therefore, an adequate tool for adults as well as young people and teenagers, and for detecting changes in the context of intervention or awareness workshops.