Selling a Body in Exchange for Money - Essay Example

Theories of deviance In order to critically discuss the theories of deviance and how they apply to the behaviour of characters in the book calledBrothel which documents prostitution in legalised brothels in Nevada, it is imperative to begin by explaining the meaning of deviance in order to gain a clear understanding of the concept. Deviance is relative and there is no absolute way of defining a deviant act. Thus, deviance can only be defined in relation to a particular culture or standard and these vary every time from place to place and this discussion is going to adopt the following definition: “Deviance refers to those activities that do not conform to the norms and expectations of the members of a particular society,” (Haralambos & Holborn, 1990, p.581). A critical analysis of this book shows that Durkheim’s functionalist perspective to deviance as well as Merton’s social structure and anomie theory can be applied to the groups of characters which include the prostitutes and the men who visit the brothel in the above mentioned book. Emile Durkeim suggests that crime is inevitable and he argues that crime is “an integral part of all healthy societies,” (as cited in Haralambos & Holborn, 1990, p.586). From this perspective, it can be noted that not all individuals are committed to the shared values and moral beliefs of the society. It may be impossible for all the members of the society to be similar and in Durkeim’s words, crime is not only inevitable, but it is functional. He argues that social change begins with some form of deviance and as noted in the definition of deviance above, deviant behaviour can be normal in other societies. In this given book, it can be seen that prostitution is not considered as deviant behaviour especially by those involved in this practice. It is seen as normal just like any other form of employment. This view is supported by Cohen who developed Durkeim’s ideas when he analyses two functions of crime in a society. Firstly, deviance can be a safety valve providing a relatively harmless expression of discontent while protecting social order (Haralambos & Holborn, 1990). He suggests that prostitution can perform a safety valve function without threatening the fabric of the family. Prostitutes interviewed in this book state that the majority of their clients are married men who will be seeking to relieve their stress and pressure from the demands of their families. The institution of the family is not threatened in this case since the relationship between prostitutes and clients is not binding. On the other hand, Cohen suggests that certain deviant acts are useful in warning that certain aspects of the society are not functioning. For instance, a lot of married couples reveal that their sexual relationship is not satisfactory, the reason why they seek the services of commercial workers to satisfy their sexual desires. In some cases, unsatisfactory sexual relationships among married couples can lead to divorce and the ladies in most cases opt to venture into prostitution. As is the case in this book, a notable number of prostitutes at Mustang brothel are divorcees as a result of unfriendly sexual relationships in their previous marriages. Men on the other hand will solicit for sex from the prostitutes after the marriage has broken down. It can be seen that the element of prostitution is inevitable as long as these negative social trends affecting the institution of the family persist. The other theory that can be applied to the behaviour of the characters in this book is Merton’s social structure and anomie. He argues that deviance results from the culture and structure of society itself (Haralambos & Holborn, 1990). Since members are placed in different class positions in the social structure, it can be noted that they do not have the same opportunity of realising the shared values which leads to deviance. In the given case, many prostitutes interviewed by the author such as Eva revealed that they joined the profession in order to earn a living. Some of the prostitutes revealed that they were struggling with their husbands to clear their soaring debts and the only option that was available to them was to join the “profession” of prostitution. Thus, according to Merton, social and cultural structure play a major role in influencing the deviant behaviour among the people located in that structure. For instance, Merton outlines that the members of the American society share the goal of success which is largely measured by wealth and material possessions (Haralambos & Holborn 1990). He goes on to mention that the accepted way of achieving success is through educational qualifications, hard work and determination but the situation obtaining on the ground is different. People in American societies do not have equal opportunities as reflected by the imbalance in the distribution of wealth between the white Americans and the Afro Americans in particular. Given such a scenario, the less privileged members of the society will find themselves engaging in prostitution as a means of survival. Whilst prostitution may be seen as deviant behaviour by some, the prostitutes themselves treat it as normal employment since it is their only source of income. 2. Social control The concept of social control is mainly concerned with the mechanisms that are put in place to ensure that the behaviour of the people conforms to the prescribed norms and values in the society (Ritzer, 1999). As noted, prostitution is a taboo in many societies but it is sanctioned by one state in America, Nevada where brothels are legalised. However, there are measures to control prostitution in this case as it can be seen that the police as well as the legislature have a vital role to play with regards to the issue of social control. In this case, the concentric circles of social control were implemented so as to ensure that the legalised brothels did not interfere with the normal functioning of the society. Basically, concentric circles are used to divide the urban areas into different zones depending on the level of status of the people residing in those zones (Haralambos & Holborn 1990). The concentric circle theory divides the urban areas into five zones and zone 1 is a ‘zone of transition’ since it has a lot of population turnover. This zone is mainly comprised of newly arrived immigrants from the rural areas and cheapest accommodation is found here. In this case, it can be noted that as soon as "respectable" women and their families began to travel to the west to join their men, the lawmakers discovered that there was need to regulate or control prostitution if they were going to allow it to exist at tolerable levels among their evolving populace. Thus, according to the given case, the Legislators passed the first law to control prostitution in 1881 and it vested the county commissions with the power to "license, tax, regulate, prohibit, or suppress all houses of ill-fame." The community groups continued to pressure the legislature about the aspect of prostitution which forced it to prohibit brothels both on main business thoroughfares and within four hundred yards of schools, and later churches, for the presumed protection of public morality. This development in this case illustrates the extent to which social control was implemented with regards to prostitution. To legalise a practice such as prostitution that is viewed with mixed feelings by different members of the society requires a holistic approach. Social control measures are required so as to ensure that the societal norms and values are not violated. In this case, it can be noted that the legalised brothels are located on the outskirts of the main urban areas as well as other public places. Essentially, this is meant to protect the moral fabric of the society since prostitution is regarded as deviant behaviour in some circles of the society. Through the strategy of concentric zones, it can be noted that controlling of prostitution becomes relatively easier. Another element of social control of prostitution can be attributed to the registration exercise that is involved before the prostitutes become fully functional. The prostitutes also go through a rigorous medical test to make sure that they are free from STDs, HIV and any other sexually related disease as a way of protecting the health interests of the patrons who frequent the brothels. This is a way of trying to ensure that the activities of the prostitutes are within the limits of the law. The aspect of conformity to certain norms and values is pivotal in as far as social control is concerned. 3. Ethics a) One major notable point of decision making that has ethical implications involves married couples. A close reading of the book shows that some men make decisions that their wives should go into prostitution when they are facing financial problems. Making such kind of decision on behalf of someone has some ethical connotations especially on the aspect of morality. Basically, the term ethics is primarily concerned with making a distinction between something that is morally good from bad (Kuper 2006). As noted in the case, making decisions that someone should go into prostitution for the love of money is morally bad. This amount to exploitation whereby women are treated as sex objects and this is not very different from slavery. Indeed, prostitution may not be bad in certain societies if an individual person voluntarily decides to join the profession. This will be a matter of choice given that the prostitutes themselves are aware of the consequences of the profession they would have decided to join. Ethically, people should respect each other. Looking down upon women as sex objects which can be exploited any time for financial gains is morally bad. Undermining the rights of the other human beings is something that is not good in society and the decisions passed by men in this case should be treated with the contempt they deserve. When a husband makes such a decision to his wife, it shows that there is no love between the two whereby the love for money is given priority. Another point of decision making that has ethical connotations is when the brothel owners decided to confiscate the belongings of the prostitutes then ordering them to buy the same staff at an inflated price. In most cases, when a prostitute has registered to work fulltime at a brothel, it would mean that all the expenses such as food that are expected to be met will have been covered from the money paid in advance. However, charging the prostitutes extra money for the things they can access on their own is unethical given that this will be day light robbery. Reaping off other people of their hard earned money is unethical. It can be seen that prostitution is not a very easy job given its demands as well as the connotations on the aspect of morality hence it will be very unethical to cheat the prostitutes. It can also be seen that the brothel owners have been working in cohorts with the law enforcement agents to reap off the prostitutes. This decision is not ethically good given that the prostitutes are registered people who are working just like any other ordinary people. b) The issue of morality is mainly concerned with good and acceptable behaviour displayed by the members of the society. The practice of prostitution in itself is seen as taboo in many societies regardless of the fact that many people continue to do it. Selling one’s body in exchange for money has got negative connotations on the aspect of morality. One example that can be drawn to illustrate the concept of moral principles, albeit in a negative manner is the way some of the prostitutes will pretend to their families that they have been visiting while they would have been selling their bodies to gain money. As it stands, some of the prostitutes know that what they will be doing is against the accepted moral principles in their respective societies but they will have no option of earning a living. In the same vein, the aspect of moral principles is reflected when the prostitutes find themselves trapped in this business even though they would have managed to surpass their original financial goals. Another example that can be used to show moral principles can be drawn from the behaviour of the prostitutes’ husbands. The behaviour of the husbands in some cases can be viewed as morally bad given that they would increase their quota every month given that cash was no longer a problem to them. However, these people do not consider the way this money is obtained which shows that their moral principles are not upright. The husbands who do not treat their wives as valuable human beings display a negative element about morality. In principle, human beings should respect each other. References Haralambos, M. & Holborn M. (1991). Sociology: Themes and perspectives. (3rd Edition). London. CollinsEducational. Kuper, L., (2006). Ethics-The leadership edge. CT. Zebra. Ritzer, G., (1992). Sociology Theory. (3rd Edition). NY. McGraw Hill Inc. Read More