J Behav Addict. 2013 Dec;2(4):231-8. doi: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.013. Epub 2013 Oct 15.
The aim of the present study was to provide a phenomenological perspective of individuals who actively engage in street-level prostitution and identified a lifestyle addiction associated with their activities.
We interviewed 25 women who were incarcerated in American county jails (at the time of interviews) for prostitution crimes. The transcripts were analyzed for themes that represented the shared consensus of the research participants.
Four negative psychological dynamics related to prostitution. First, participants described accounts of physical and emotional violence which they experienced at the hand of clients and others involved in the lifestyle. Second, interviewees explained an extreme dislike for their actions relating to and involving prostitution. These individuals did not describe themselves as being sexually addicted; sex was means to a desired end. Third, participants described how prostitution's lifestyle had evolved into something which they conceptualized as an addiction. As such, they did not describe themselves as feeling addicted to sex acts - but to lifestyle elements that accompanied prostitution behaviors. Finally, participants believed that freedom from prostitution's lifestyle would require social service assistance in order to overcome their lifestyle addiction.
The results show that, although the prostitutes repeatedly and consistently used the term "addiction" when describing their lifestyles, they did not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for addiction. Rather, they shared many of the same psychological constructs as do addicts (e.g., feeling trapped, desiring escape, needing help to change), but they did not meet medical criteria for addictive dependence (e.g., tolerance or withdrawal).
本研究旨在从现象学角度探讨积极从事街头卖淫活动并与活动相关的生活方式成瘾的个体。
我们采访了 25 名因卖淫罪被关押在美国县监狱（采访时）的女性。对转录本进行了主题分析，这些主题代表了研究参与者的共识。
与卖淫相关的四个负面心理动态。首先，参与者描述了他们在客户和其他参与生活方式的人手中所经历的身体和情感暴力的情况。其次，受访者解释了他们对与卖淫有关的行为的极度反感。这些人并没有描述自己有性成瘾；性是达到预期目的的一种手段。第三，参与者描述了卖淫的生活方式如何演变成他们认为是成瘾的东西。因此，他们没有描述自己对性行为上瘾——而是对伴随卖淫行为的生活方式元素上瘾。最后，参与者认为，要摆脱卖淫的生活方式，需要社会服务援助，以克服他们的生活方式成瘾。
结果表明，尽管这些妓女在描述自己的生活方式时反复使用“成瘾”一词，但她们不符合 DSM-IV-TR 成瘾标准。相反，他们与瘾君子有许多相同的心理结构（例如，感到被困，渴望逃脱，需要帮助改变），但他们不符合成瘾依赖的医学标准（例如，耐受或戒断）。
