New Kid on the Block: Strengths and Challenges of Prostitution Courts

Background and Purpose:

Prostitution courts are becoming a popular type of problem-solving court as they represent a significant shift in the criminal justice systems approach to addressing a problem, which historically the system has had little success and led to a costly and ineffective “revolving door.” Prostitution courts also present some unique challenges that other types of problem solving courts have not had to face (i.e. individuals with extensive histories of trauma, gender related issues, and ongoing threats of violence and coercion). The purpose of this study was to :1)  understand the strengths and challenges of the Reaching Independence through Self-Empowerment (RISE) prostitution court; and 2) explore the challenges women face as they exit a life of prostitution. There is a need to understand more about prostitution courts and the challenges program participants experience as they attempt to create new lives. The high cost of incarcerating individuals with histories of prostitution, combined with high recidivism for this population, necessitate a different response. Increasingly, prostitution courts are a way that local and state jurisdictions are responding to this issue.

Methods:

Using the Case Study method, observations of the RISE prostitution court and in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 women who were participating in the RISE program and eight community partner stakeholders who provided services to these women. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using pattern analysis, the most desirable technique for Case Study analysis, which examines individual cases and build a conceptual explanation that accounts for both the interview and the observational data. This study used a number of methods to ensure rigor, including prolonged engagement and testing rival or alternative explanations. Questions framing the analysis were: 1) what are the strengths and challenges of the RISE prostitution court? And 2) how do participants’ experiences prepare them to desist from prostitution after participating in the RISE program?

Findings:

Rigorous qualitative analysis using the Case Study method revealed four areas of strengths and challenges of the RISE prostitution court: political, partnerships, programmatic, and personal investment. The political strength was: interdisciplinary buy-in and collaboration. The political challenge was: stigma associated with prostitution. A partnership strength was the ongoing, positive relationships with many social service organizations. The partnership challenge was limited judicial control over community social services. The programmatic strengths were: the multi-disciplinary approach and the primary goal of addressing women’s extensive histories of trauma. The programmatic challenges were: being different enough from jail, sanctions and rewards, and having realistic expectations. The personal investment strength was a belief in the women. There were no challenges to personal investment.

Conclusion & Implications:

With the burgeoning of prostitution courts throughout the United States, it is important to highlight the strengths and challenges that a prostitution court such as RISE has experienced so that other states and counties that are developing these types of courts can build on the successes while minimizing the challenges.