Ronald Weitzer
Encyclopedia
Ronald Weitzer is a sociologist specializing in criminology
and a professor at George Washington University
, known for his publications on police
-minority
relations and on the sex industry
.
, with a focus on American policies toward prostitution
laws and sex trafficking. He recently completed a study on the prostitution policy from Western Australia, which attempted to legalize brothel and escort prostitution in 2008. See
prostitution in Western Australia.
Regarding American domestic prostitution policy, he advocates what he calls a "two-track" policy toward enforcement of prostitution laws. One "track" involves intensified law enforcement toward street prostitution
(targeting both street prostitutes and their customers), arguing that street prostitution victimizes host communities and leaves the prostitutes themselves open to victimization. The second "track" involves what he calls "de facto decriminalization" of indoor prostitution, that is, the non-enforcement by police departments of laws against various forms of indoor prostitution, such as escorting
, massage parlors, and brothels, even while such laws stay on the books. Weitzer holds that that these kinds of activities typically have little effect on the surrounding community and that enforcing laws against such practices involves involve time-consuming sting operations that waste police resources. Weitzer argues that this "two track" approach reflects public preferences regarding the proper focus of law enforcement, is a more efficient use of law enforcement resources, and is guided by the principle of harm reduction
. He has stated that his "two track" policy recommendation cannot be neatly reduced to advocacy of "decriminalization" or "legalization".
Weitzer has been highly critical of the abolitionist position on prostitution and the conflation of all sex work with sex trafficking. While agreeing that sex trafficking is a real phenomenon, he argues that the scale of it has been greatly exaggerated by abolitionist organizations, such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
. He also argues against claims that prostitution universally involves coercion and violence and that legalization
would make such problems worse, claiming that research has shown that carefully regulated legal prostitution, in parts of the world where it exists, greatly increases the safety and job satisfaction
of sex workers. He also argues against what he views as the demonization
of customers in anti-prostitution arguments. He has stated that the exaggeration of the scale of violence and trafficking in the sex industry, the demonization of customers, and the call for a punitive response to such problems by prostitution abolitionists amounts to a moral panic
.
He further argues that prostitution abolitionists are largely motivated by ideology, generally radical feminism
or Christian right
views, and this ideologically-driven view taints research and statistics about prostitution and trafficking offered by researchers and groups that advocate this position. He has been particularly critical of the claims of anti-prostitution writers such as Janice Raymond
, Donna M. Hughes
, and Melissa Farley
for such reasons. Weitzer also holds that the Bush administration and its congressional
allies have strongly embraced prostitution abolitionist views as a justification for a crackdown on the sex industry.
Weitzer's views have been in turn criticized by prostitution abolitionist Melissa Farley. She argues that all science is infused with values and that the assumptions of both abolitionist and pro-legalization researchers guide the hypotheses that drive such research. Farley has criticized Weitzer's perspective, claiming that his views place the perspectives of the surrounding community and of customers ahead of that of women in prostitution. Farley also claims that research has shown that indoor prostitutes are as vulnerable to violence as outdoor prostitutes, but that such violence is simply less visible to the larger community. Weitzer responds that it is possible to carry out objective research on the sex industry and that abolitionists have simply failed to do so. He also denies viewing prostitution solely from the point of view of the nonprostitute community, and that the views of both prostitutes and nonprostitutes are far from monolithic, in any event.
-minority
relations in Israel, Northern Ireland
, South Africa
, and the United States
, including studies of racial profiling
and police misconduct and racially-biased policing. His research has used multiple research methods. He conducted in-depth interviews and observations of police-citizen interactions in a major study of policing in three neighborhoods in Washington, DC. Each neighborhood was either racially or economically distinct—a black middle-class community, white middle-class community, and an impoverished black community. Major differences were found between the three neighborhoods in their perceptions of the DC police and the kinds of interactions and experiences neighborhood residents had with police officers. Prior to this study, Weitzer conducted major research on police-community relations in Northern Ireland, comparing four types of Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The study resulted in his 1995 book, Policing Under Fire. Recently, Weitzer has analyzed survey data (with Badi Hasisi) on Arabs and Jews opinions of the Israel Police
. Weitzer and Tuch published a book on Americans' views and personal experiences with the police, entitled Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform. In addition, Weitzer has examined the effects of major, well-publicized incidents of police misconduct
(such as brutality
and corruption
) on public opinion
toward to the police in New York
and Los Angeles
. This study found that public confidence in the police eroded dramatically after each incident, incidents that were given intensive media coverage. Although satisfaction with the police gradually rebounded years after the incident, this process took longer for African-Americans and Hispanics than for white
residents of the two cities.
Weitzer's earliest study focused on Zimbabwe, where he conducted field research in the early 1980s. At that time, he documented the trend toward a de facto one-party state headed by President Robert Mugabe, whose ruling party relied on repressive security measures and institutions to cripple the political opposition. Mugabe's ruling party (ZANU-PF) used laws inherited from its predecessor—the white-minority regime, which collapsed in 1980 and gave way to majority rule. The pattern of de facto one-party rule and repression of political opposition continued for 30 years, up to the present time. Weitzer's research was published in an 1984 article in the Journal of Modern African Studies and in his book, Transforming Settler States (University of California Press, 1990).
“The Movement to Criminalize Sex Work in the United States,” Journal of Law and Society, 37, 1 (March 2010): 61-84
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
and a professor at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, known for his publications on police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
-minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
relations and on the sex industry
Sex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
.
Prostitution and sex trafficking
Weitzer has authored a number of papers on the sex industrySex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
, with a focus on American policies toward prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
laws and sex trafficking. He recently completed a study on the prostitution policy from Western Australia, which attempted to legalize brothel and escort prostitution in 2008. See
prostitution in Western Australia.
Regarding American domestic prostitution policy, he advocates what he calls a "two-track" policy toward enforcement of prostitution laws. One "track" involves intensified law enforcement toward street prostitution
Street prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
(targeting both street prostitutes and their customers), arguing that street prostitution victimizes host communities and leaves the prostitutes themselves open to victimization. The second "track" involves what he calls "de facto decriminalization" of indoor prostitution, that is, the non-enforcement by police departments of laws against various forms of indoor prostitution, such as escorting
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
, massage parlors, and brothels, even while such laws stay on the books. Weitzer holds that that these kinds of activities typically have little effect on the surrounding community and that enforcing laws against such practices involves involve time-consuming sting operations that waste police resources. Weitzer argues that this "two track" approach reflects public preferences regarding the proper focus of law enforcement, is a more efficient use of law enforcement resources, and is guided by the principle of harm reduction
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
. He has stated that his "two track" policy recommendation cannot be neatly reduced to advocacy of "decriminalization" or "legalization".
Weitzer has been highly critical of the abolitionist position on prostitution and the conflation of all sex work with sex trafficking. While agreeing that sex trafficking is a real phenomenon, he argues that the scale of it has been greatly exaggerated by abolitionist organizations, such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is an international non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex.-Views:...
. He also argues against claims that prostitution universally involves coercion and violence and that legalization
Legalization
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one example is the consumption of illegal drugs .Those...
would make such problems worse, claiming that research has shown that carefully regulated legal prostitution, in parts of the world where it exists, greatly increases the safety and job satisfaction
Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his /her job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation or aptitude, although it is clearly linked...
of sex workers. He also argues against what he views as the demonization
Demonization
Demonization is the reinterpretation of polytheistic deities as evil, lying demons by other religions, generally monotheistic and henotheistic ones...
of customers in anti-prostitution arguments. He has stated that the exaggeration of the scale of violence and trafficking in the sex industry, the demonization of customers, and the call for a punitive response to such problems by prostitution abolitionists amounts to a moral panic
Moral panic
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
.
He further argues that prostitution abolitionists are largely motivated by ideology, generally radical feminism
Radical feminism
Radical feminism is a current theoretical perspective within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption that "male supremacy" oppresses women...
or Christian right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
views, and this ideologically-driven view taints research and statistics about prostitution and trafficking offered by researchers and groups that advocate this position. He has been particularly critical of the claims of anti-prostitution writers such as Janice Raymond
Janice Raymond
Janice G. Raymond is a longtime feminist activist against violence, sexual exploitation and the "medical abuse" of cissexual women, as well as for her writings and activism against transsexualism...
, Donna M. Hughes
Donna M. Hughes
Donna M. Hughes is a University of Rhode Island professor of women's studies and activist against prostitution and human trafficking, and pornography....
, and Melissa Farley
Melissa Farley
Melissa Farley is an American clinical psychologist and researcher and feminist anti-pornography and anti-prostitution activist. Farley is best known for her studies of the effects of prostitution, trafficking, and sexual violence....
for such reasons. Weitzer also holds that the Bush administration and its congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
allies have strongly embraced prostitution abolitionist views as a justification for a crackdown on the sex industry.
Weitzer's views have been in turn criticized by prostitution abolitionist Melissa Farley. She argues that all science is infused with values and that the assumptions of both abolitionist and pro-legalization researchers guide the hypotheses that drive such research. Farley has criticized Weitzer's perspective, claiming that his views place the perspectives of the surrounding community and of customers ahead of that of women in prostitution. Farley also claims that research has shown that indoor prostitutes are as vulnerable to violence as outdoor prostitutes, but that such violence is simply less visible to the larger community. Weitzer responds that it is possible to carry out objective research on the sex industry and that abolitionists have simply failed to do so. He also denies viewing prostitution solely from the point of view of the nonprostitute community, and that the views of both prostitutes and nonprostitutes are far from monolithic, in any event.
Police-minority relations
Weitzer has done research on policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
-minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
relations in Israel, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including studies of racial profiling
Racial profiling
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
and police misconduct and racially-biased policing. His research has used multiple research methods. He conducted in-depth interviews and observations of police-citizen interactions in a major study of policing in three neighborhoods in Washington, DC. Each neighborhood was either racially or economically distinct—a black middle-class community, white middle-class community, and an impoverished black community. Major differences were found between the three neighborhoods in their perceptions of the DC police and the kinds of interactions and experiences neighborhood residents had with police officers. Prior to this study, Weitzer conducted major research on police-community relations in Northern Ireland, comparing four types of Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The study resulted in his 1995 book, Policing Under Fire. Recently, Weitzer has analyzed survey data (with Badi Hasisi) on Arabs and Jews opinions of the Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
. Weitzer and Tuch published a book on Americans' views and personal experiences with the police, entitled Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform. In addition, Weitzer has examined the effects of major, well-publicized incidents of police misconduct
Police misconduct
Police misconduct refers to inappropriate actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Police misconduct can lead to a miscarriage of justice and sometimes involves discrimination...
(such as brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
and corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
) on public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
toward to the police in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. This study found that public confidence in the police eroded dramatically after each incident, incidents that were given intensive media coverage. Although satisfaction with the police gradually rebounded years after the incident, this process took longer for African-Americans and Hispanics than for white
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
residents of the two cities.
Weitzer's earliest study focused on Zimbabwe, where he conducted field research in the early 1980s. At that time, he documented the trend toward a de facto one-party state headed by President Robert Mugabe, whose ruling party relied on repressive security measures and institutions to cripple the political opposition. Mugabe's ruling party (ZANU-PF) used laws inherited from its predecessor—the white-minority regime, which collapsed in 1980 and gave way to majority rule. The pattern of de facto one-party rule and repression of political opposition continued for 30 years, up to the present time. Weitzer's research was published in an 1984 article in the Journal of Modern African Studies and in his book, Transforming Settler States (University of California Press, 1990).
Books
- Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0521851521 (hc), ISBN 0521616913 (pb)(co-authored with Steven Tuch).
- Current Controversies in Criminology, New York: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0130941158.
- Deviance and Social Control: A Reader, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. ISBN 007245900X.
- Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, New York: Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0-415-92294-1 (hc), ISBN 0-415-92295-X (pb). Published in Japan by Studio Pan, 2004.
- Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, 2nd Edition, New York and London: Routledge, 2009.
- Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland, State University of New York Press, 1995. ISBN 079142247X.
- Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict and Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe, University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 0520064909.
Journal and anthology articles
“The Mythology of Prostitution: Advocacy Research and Public Policy,” Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 7, 1, (March 2010): 15-29“The Movement to Criminalize Sex Work in the United States,” Journal of Law and Society, 37, 1 (March 2010): 61-84
- "The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade", Politics & Society 35(3):447–475, September 2007. .
- (with Steven Tuch), "Reforming the Police: Racial Differences in Public Support for Change", Criminology 42(2): 391–416, May 2004. .
- (with Charis E. Kubrin), "New Directions in Social Disorganization Theory", Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 40(4):374–402, December 2003. .
- (with Charis E. Kubrin), "Retaliatory Homicide: Concentrated Disadvantage and Neighborhood Culture", Social Problems 50(2):157–180, May 2003. .
- (with Steven Tuch), "Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience", Criminology 40(2):435–456, May 2002. .
- "Racialized policing: Residents' perceptions in three neighborhoods", Law & Society ReviewLaw & Society ReviewLaw & Society Review is an academic journal in the field of law and society. It was established by the Law and Society Association in 1966 and published by Wiley-Blackwell. It has four issues per volume per year....
34(1):129–155, 2000. . - "Prostitution Control in America: Rethinking Public Policy", Crime, Law, and Social Change 32(1):83–102, 1999. .
- "Prostitutes Rights In The United States: The Failure Of A Movement", Sociological Quarterly 32(1):23–41, Spring 1991. .
External links
- Faculty homepage, George Washington University.
- "Human Trafficking Evokes Outrage, Little Evidence" by Jerry Markon, Washington Post, September 23, 2007.
By Weitzer
- (with SA Tuch) "Race and perceptions of police misconduct", Social Problems 51: 305–325, August 2004.
- "Breaking news: How local TV news and real-world conditions affect fear of crime", Justice Quarterly 21(3): 497–520, September 2004.
- "Public opinion on reforms in policing", The Police Chief 71(12), December 2004.
- "New directions in research on prostitution", Crime, Law, and Social Change, 43(4/5): 211–235, June 2005.
- (with James Austin and Kelly Dedel Johnson) "Alternatives to secure detention and confinement of juvenile offenders", OJJDP Juvenile Justice Practices Series, Juvenile Justice Bulletin, September 2005.
- "Prostitution as a form of work", Sociology Compass 1(1):143–155, 2007.
- (with SA Tuch and WG Skogan) "Police-Community Relations in a Majority-Black City", Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 45:398–428, November 2008.
- "Legalizing Prostitution: Morality Politics in Western Australia", British Journal of Criminology 49:88–105, January 2009. (PDF.)