Implementing ‘new’ norms? Examining ‘john school’ policies in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, norms are located in the foreground of policy debates. To consider how they inform and emerge through policies, this paper examines ‘john schools,’ where men arrested for prostitution solicitation attend a class to learn about the consequences of their actions. Based on multimethod qualitative research with two john schools (Project Respect, in Brooklyn, NY, and the Offender Program in Phoenix, AZ), I argue that normative dissonance characterizes this contentious, morality-oriented policy. While john schools may be designed to reflect and enforce particular norms, these norms are continually complicated and contradicted as they are implemented and communicated to the policy’s target population. Therefore, although a new norm emphasizing male responsibility for women’s victimization in prostitution motivated and informed Project Respect’s and the Offender Program’s design, this norm is continually challenged in practice. While the john schools’ speakers deployed consequential and behavior change discourse to discourage the men from soliciting, they also presumed the men would solicit again, and they variously cast women who engage in prostitution as victims and criminals. The remainder of this paper considers some of the broader lessons we may learn from these john schools about norms and policy in the United States.