An analysis of the oldest profession : a psychological study of the onset of street prostitution in Malta

Abstract

This study attempts to discover the psychological factors that contribute to a woman's entrance in street prostitution in Malta. Consequently, the research question is 'What are the psychological factors underlying a woman's decision to become a street prostitute in Malta?' This question is significant especially because of the restricted literature on the psychological aspect underlying prostitution not only in the local context but also in foreign contexts. It is also important in presenting the facts without any bias for a narrow-minded society in which prostitution is considered as a dishonourable, shameful taboo subject. A qualitative approach based on a narrative perspective has been chosen in order to seek to arrive at to the whole truth as much as possible behind the entrance into street prostitution through accurate, rich amounts of data being narrated by women who lived the experience of prostitution. The results show that social and financial poverty as well as experienced rejection in school contribute largely to the onset of street prostitution in Malta. The major usefulness of this study may be in diminishing society's ignorance when judging prostitutes as lacking any dignity without having had the grounds/basis for their judgment, through the emergence of original factual data on the origins of a woman's entry into street prostitution.