Pornography and ProstitutionThe topic I have been researching in recent weeks has been prostitution. So far it's been very interesting. Studies have shown exactly what the problems are with prostitution. In some of the older books I have read, historians were primarily interested in discussing attitudes towards prostitution, but in more recent works the focus has been on prostitutes themselves, including their range of alternatives, their conditions of work, their health and lifespan, their careers. -and the interaction between prostitutes and others, such as reformers, clients, or bosses. Studies of men and women, boys and girls who have been involved in prostitution and/or pornography have revealed much. They are the most difficult patients to treat. They say they want help, but nothing that is done to help them works. They come back. They just don't seem to want to change. Women who have been subjected to ongoing abuse and victimization over which they have no control or understanding have developed a sense of psychological paralysis that prevents them from doing anything positive about further victimization. They believe they are unable to change their destructive behavior. They remain trapped in helplessness and despair. They feel out of control of their lives. Essentially, they have developed a chronic disorder as a result of their victimization and inability to separate themselves from sexual exploitation to build a better life. In a recent study based on the analysis of 200 female street prostitutes, 78% reported having started prostitution as minors; and 68% were 16 or younger when they began prostitution. Most child prostitutes described family structures with outward appearances of stability. Over three-quarters reported having had a religious upbringing. Forty percent were raised by both their mother and father. The younger the prostitute, the more educated the family. Yet despite appearances of religious, financial and other success, the study revealed a number of problems occurring within the family. More than half of the prostitutes had parents involved in excessive alcohol consumption. In more than half of the families the child saw his father violently hit his mother and 62% of the subjects were beaten themselves while growing up. Only in a few cases was the beating linked to something the subject had done. The most harmful from a psychological point of view are those cases in which the victims could not understand why they were being beaten or those in which they were beaten for no particular reason.