The Influence of Significant Others on the Course of the Process of Leaving Sex Work

Izabela Ślęzak

doi:10.18778/1733-8069.11.3.08

Authors

Izabela Ślęzak University of Lodz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.11.3.08

Keywords:

significant other, sex work, prostitution, symbolic interactionism, qualitative research, identity

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present the barriers to leaving sex work which are related to the influence of significant others on decisions made by sex workers. The analysis was applied in the case of two categories of significant others (organizational and intimate), which through interactions in escort agencies and on family grounds, respectively, may exert a destructive influence on sex workers’ intentions, referring to their life and the act of leaving sex work. Therefore, the relationships with significant others described in the article interfere in the process of these women’s identity transformation, hindering the development of a self-concept outside prostitution. The article is based on qualitative research carried out in escort agencies in one of the biggest Polish cities.

Author Biography

Izabela Ślęzak, University of Lodz

Izabela Ślęzak, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Organization of Management of the University of Lodz. Main spheres of scientific interests focus on methodology of social research, especially qualitative methods of work, symbolic interactionism, sociology of work and organization. Currently performing field studies related to the phenomenon of prostitution.

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