Occupational mobility in the world of prostitution: Becoming a madam

Abstract

Prostitution may be viewed as a sexual service industry that includes various occupational sub‐categories, such as streetwalker, call girl, madam, pimp. These occupational sub‐categories differ in terms of work environment, financial rewards, work hazards, etc. Occupational mobility is possible within the prostitution business but is dependent upon factors similar to those found in more legitimate occupations (e.g., race, mental acumen, personal contacts, presentation of self, ambition). This paper will attempt to show, principally through the case history technique, the manner in which a small group of prostitutes exercised occupational mobility and became madams. It is believed that the benefits of such an inquiry may be twofold. First, as Everett C. Hughes argued on more than one occasion, the study of deviant occupations and institutions can yield data of value to the study of legitimate occupations and institutions. Secondly, it is hoped that the continued utility of a sociology of work approach to the study of deviant behavior will be demonstrated. A basic orientation of this paper is that prostitution may be more fruitfully studied as an occupation than as a “social problem.”