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Under the Law

Teen prostitution in Kensington

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

This paper seeks to investigate the effects of a changing economy on youth labor. With increased pressure on the nuclear family, which emerged out of a capitalist framework, financial responsibility is shared by youth. This economic unit was once dependent on male wage earners but now is no longer able to sustain itself due to deindustrialization. Because of existing governmental parameters on youth labor, many young women choose marginal labor such as prostitution. This paper addresses various monocausal explanations which fail to explain why teens enter into sex work such as drug abuse, sexual abuse and failing family values. Using a Marxist framework, I contend that teens choose prostitution in reaction to economic constraints on the family unit. Entering into sex work changes the relationships that youth have with their families, communities and with the state. It is hoped that this paper will unveil the effects capitalism has on youth labor as well as the conditions in which these youth live.

Key Words: poverty • prostitution • state power • youth labor

Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 19, No. 2, 193-201 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0308275X9901900206


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