1. Coming of age on the streets: Survival sex among homeless young women in Hollywood
- Author
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Richard Y. Calvo, Leslie F. Clark, Golnaz Agahi, Curren Warf, Susan Rabinovitz, Mona Desai, and Jenny Hoffmann
- Subjects
Child abuse ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Survival ,Social Psychology ,Sexual Behavior ,Poison control ,Shame ,Suicide prevention ,Homeless Youth ,Young Adult ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Injury prevention ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Juvenile delinquency ,medicine ,Humans ,Child ,Psychiatry ,Human factors and ergonomics ,Los Angeles ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Physical abuse ,Sexual abuse ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Female ,Psychology - Abstract
This study examined childhood physical or sexual abuse, involvement in dependency or delinquency systems, psychiatric hospitalization, and suicide as possible risk factors for survival sex among homeless young women. Homeless young women were found to have similarly high rates of childhood sexual abuse, dependency and delinquency systems involvement, and psychiatric hospitalization. Homeless young women involved in survival sex disclosed higher rates of attempted suicide and reported marginally higher rates of childhood physical abuse. Analysis of qualitative data showed that those engaged in survival sex were motivated primarily by desperation to meet basic needs including a place to stay, food and money, and one third mentioned that peers commonly were influential in decisions to engage in survival sex. Others were influenced by coercion (10%) or pursuit of drugs (10%). Young women engaged in survival sex generally experienced regret and shame about their experience.
- Published
- 2013
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