Male Customers of Prostituted Women: Exploring Perceptions of Entitlement to Power and Control and Implications for Violent Behavior Toward Women

• NCJ Number: 196631
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 8 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 1093-1112
• Author(s): Noel B. Busch; Holly Bell; Norma Hotaling; Martin A. Monto
• Date Published: September 2002
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the link between theories about violence against intimate partners and violence against prostituted women.

Abstract

Feminist theory of violence against women rests on three concepts: power, control, and traditional gender roles. An analysis of this theory led researchers to explore whether constructs associated with entitlement to power and control would explain the responses to a questionnaire given to men arrested for attempting to solicit a prostituted woman. Male customers of prostituted women responded to attitudinal and behavior questions about prostituted and non-prostituted women. Data were collected from 1,342 men in First Offender (deferred adjudication) programs in California, Oregon, and Nevada. More than half of the respondents were Caucasian men, and approximately one fifth were Latino. Analyses occurred in two phases: data reduction procedures (factor analysis) and identification of statistical relationships of factors with other variables (correlations). Results show that, although most men in the sample did not support violence, found sexual violence attractive, reported using violence to gain sex, or believe that prostituted women enjoyed being prostituted, the factor analysis supported these as cohesive structures. Although these factors did not make a direct connection between these customers’ attitudes and violent behavior, these findings suggest structures of beliefs and attitudes that paralleled feminist theories of violence against women. Only a small percentage of men reported threatening physical violence or behaving violently to gain sex. The fact that participants may be unwilling to reply in socially undesirable ways helps to explain the low levels of reported violence. This mirrors the behavior of batterers that often minimize their violent behavior toward their intimate partners. More in-depth information about customers’ relationships with both prostituted and non-prostituted women regarding their expectations and use of violence in those relationships is needed. This research should focus on documenting antecedents to violent behavior toward prostituted women. 5 tables, 39 references