Award Date

5-2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice

Department

Criminal Justice

First Committee Member

Alexis Kennedy, Chair

Second Committee Member

Hong Lu

Third Committee Member

Randall Shelden

Graduate Faculty Representative

Kathleen Bergquist

Number of Pages

85

Abstract

Adolescent females are becoming the fastest growing population amongst juveniles being held in detention and referred to juvenile courts. Unfortunately such increases are linked to a lack of alternative services available for youths during the adjudication process. Upon being arrested, delinquent girls are suffering from a host of health, emotional and social issues for which there is also a lack of programming and detailed research. However, emerging evidence indicates that female delinquency is characterized by a multitude of overlapping problems that distinguish them from male delinquents. Issues include poor mental health, history of child abuse, substance abuse among parents and family members, unstable home environments, poor academic performance, association with other deviant peers, and involvement in high-risk sexual activity. One high risk sexual activity is engaging in prostitution, a behavior often seen with youth who have a history of sexual abuse. Youth often use prostitution as a survival strategy while living on the streets after running away to escape abuse at home. This study aims to examine the extent of prostitution behaviors of adolescent girls in Clark County, Nevada and determine which characteristics can be identified as risk factors or predictors of involvement in prostitution.

Keywords

Child prostitutes; Clark County (Nev.); Female juvenile delinquents; Nevada; Teenage prostitution

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Gender and Sexuality | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance | Sociology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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