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Ronald Weitzer

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Ronald Weitzer
Born1952
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (PhD, 1985)
University of California, Berkeley (MA, 1978)
University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Sociology, 1975)
Known forResearch on police-minority relations, including racial profiling, and studies of the sex industry, prostitution laws, and trafficking policy.[1][2]
Scientific career
FieldsSociology, Criminology
InstitutionsGeorge Washington University 1988–

Ronald Weitzer (born 1952)[3] is a sociologist specializing in criminology and a professor at George Washington University, known for his publications on police-minority relations and on the sex industry.[1]

Research and views

Prostitution and sex trafficking

Weitzer has authored a number of papers on the sex industry, with a focus on American policies toward prostitution laws and sex trafficking.[1] He recently completed a study on the prostitution policy from Western Australia, which attempted to legalize brothel and escort prostitution in 2008. See prostitution in Western Australia.

Regarding American domestic prostitution policy, he advocates what he calls a "two-track" policy toward enforcement of prostitution laws. One "track" involves intensified law enforcement toward street prostitution (targeting both street prostitutes and their customers), arguing that street prostitution victimizes host communities and leaves the prostitutes themselves open to victimization. The second "track" involves what he calls "de facto decriminalization" of indoor prostitution, that is, the non-enforcement by police departments of laws against various forms of indoor prostitution, such as escorting, massage parlors, and brothels, even while such laws stay on the books. Weitzer holds that that these kinds of activities typically have little effect on the surrounding community and that enforcing laws against such practices involves involve time-consuming sting operations that waste police resources. Weitzer argues that this "two track" approach reflects public preferences regarding the proper focus of law enforcement, is a more efficient use of law enforcement resources, and is guided by the principle of harm reduction.[4][5] He has stated that his "two track" policy recommendation cannot be neatly reduced to advocacy of "decriminalization" or "legalization".[6]

Weitzer has been highly critical of the abolitionist position on prostitution and the conflation of all sex work with sex trafficking. While agreeing that sex trafficking is a real phenomenon, he argues that the scale of it has been greatly exaggerated by abolitionist organizations, such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. He also argues against claims that prostitution universally involves coercion and violence and that legalization would make such problems worse, claiming that research has shown that carefully regulated legal prostitution, in parts of the world where it exists, greatly increases the safety and job satisfaction of sex workers. He also argues against what he views as the demonization of customers in anti-prostitution arguments. He has stated that the exaggeration of the scale of violence and trafficking in the sex industry, the demonization of customers, and the call for a punitive response to such problems by prostitution abolitionists amounts to a moral panic.[7][8][9]

He further argues that prostitution abolitionists are largely motivated by ideology, generally radical feminism or Christian right views, and this ideologically-driven view taints research and statistics about prostitution and trafficking offered by researchers and groups that advocate this position.[7][8][9] He has been particularly critical of the claims of anti-prostitution writers such as Janice Raymond, Donna M. Hughes, and Melissa Farley for such reasons.[10] Weitzer also holds that the Bush administration and its congressional allies have strongly embraced prostitution abolitionist views as a justification for a crackdown on the sex industry.[7][8][9]

Weitzer's views have been in turn criticized by prostitution abolitionist Melissa Farley. She argues that all science is infused with values and that the assumptions of both abolitionist and pro-legalization researchers guide the hypotheses that drive such research. Farley has criticized Weitzer's perspective, claiming that his views place the perspectives of the surrounding community and of customers ahead of that of women in prostitution. Farley also claims that research has shown that indoor prostitutes are as vulnerable to violence as outdoor prostitutes, but that such violence is simply less visible to the larger community.[11] Weitzer responds that it is possible to carry out objective research on the sex industry and that abolitionists have simply failed to do so. He also denies viewing prostitution solely from the point of view of the nonprostitute community, and that the views of both prostitutes and nonprostitutes are far from monolithic, in any event.[12]

Police-minority relations

Weitzer has done research on police-minority relations in Israel, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and the United States,[1] including studies of racial profiling and police misconduct and racially-biased policing.[13][14] His research has used multiple research methods including quantitative surveys of the public, in-depth interviews, archival research, and systematic observations of police-citizen interactions at "community policing" meetings. He conducted in-depth interviews and observations of police-citizen interactions in a major study of three neighborhoods in Washington, DC -- funded by the National Science Foundation. Each neighborhood was either racially or economically distinct—a black middle-class community, white middle-class community, and an impoverished black community. Major differences were found between the three neighborhoods in their perceptions of the DC police and the kinds of interactions and experiences neighborhood residents had with police officers. Prior to this study, Weitzer conducted major research on police-community relations in Northern Ireland, comparing four types of Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods and the impact of policing on each. The study resulted in his 1995 book, Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland. Recently, Weitzer has analyzed survey data (with Badi Hasisi) on Arabs and Jews opinions of the Israel Police. Weitzer and Tuch published a book on Americans' views and personal experiences with the police, entitled Race and Policing in America: Conflict and ReformBold text. In addition, Weitzer has examined the effects of major, well-publicized incidents of police misconduct (such as brutality and corruption) on public opinion toward to the police in New York and Los Angeles. This study found that public confidence in the police eroded dramatically after each incident, incidents that were given intensive media coverage. Although satisfaction with the police gradually rebounded years after the incident, this process took longer for African-Americans and Hispanics than for white residents of the two cities.[15]

Weitzer's earliest research focused on Zimbabwe, where he conducted field research in the early 1980s. At that time, he documented the trend toward a de facto one-party state headed by President Robert Mugabe, whose ruling party relied on repressive security measures and institutions to cripple the political opposition. Mugabe's ruling party (ZANU-PF) used laws inherited from its predecessor—the white-minority regime, which collapsed in 1980 and gave way to majority rule. The pattern of de facto one-party rule and repression of political opposition has continued for 30 years, up to the present time. Weitzer's research was published in a groundbreaking 1984 article titled "In Search of Regime Security: Zimbabwe since Independence" in the Journal of Modern African Studies and in his book, Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict & Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe (published by University of California Press, 1990). This early research set the stage for his subsequent investigation of counterinsurgency policing and ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland and his many studies of police relations with minority groups in the United States.

Major publications

Books

  • Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business, New York University Press, 2012. (Book examines theoretical paradigms, political struggles over prostitution policy, and the social ecology of legal red-light districts in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium).
  • Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, 2nd Edition, New York: Routledge, 2010.
  • Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-85152-1 (hc), ISBN 0-521-61691-3 (pb)(co-authored with Steven Tuch).
  • Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, New York: Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0-415-92294-1 (hc), ISBN 0-415-92295-X (pb). Published in Japan by Studio Pan, 2004.
  • Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2247-X.
  • Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict and Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 0-520-06490-9.

Selected journal and anthology articles

  • “Sex Trafficking and the Sex Industry: The Need for Evidence-Based Theory and Legislation,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 101, 4 (Fall 2011): 1337-1369.
  • “Pornography’s Effects: The Need for Solid Evidence,” Violence Against Women, 17, 5 (May 2011): 666-675.
  • “The Mythology of Prostitution: Advocacy Research and Public Policy,” Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 7, 1, (March 2010): 15-29.
  • “Negotiating Unwelcome Police Encounters: The Intergenerational Transmission of Conduct Norms,” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 40, 4 (August 2011): 425-456.
  • “The Movement to Criminalize Sex Work in the United States,” Journal of Law and Society, 37, 1 (March 2010): 61-84.
  • “Race and Policing in Different Ecological Contexts,” in Race, Ethnicity, and Policing, edited by S. Rice & M. White. New York: NYU Press, 2010, pages 118-139.
  • “Sociology of Sex Work,” Annual Review of Sociology, 35 (2009): 213-234. {{cite journal |title=Sociology of Sex Work |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |year=2009 |volume=35 |url=http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120025 |doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120025 |pages=213.
  • “Police Relations with Black and White Youths in Different Urban Neighborhoods,” Urban Affairs Review, 44, 6 (July 2009): 858-885.
  • “Strategic Responses to the Police among Inner-City Youth,” Sociological Quarterly, 50, 2 (Spring 2009): 235-256.
  • “Police-Community Relations in a Majority-Black City,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 45, 4 (November 2008): 398-428.
  • "The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade", Politics & Society 35(3):447–475, September 2007. doi:10.1177/0032329207304319.
  • “Prostitution: Facts and Fictions,” Contexts, 6, 4 (Fall 2007): 28-33.
  • “Police Relations with Arabs and Jews in Israel,” British Journal of Criminology, 47, 5 (September 2007): 728-745.
  • “Can the Police be Reformed?” Contexts, 4, 3 (Summer 2005): 21-26.
  • "Reforming the Police: Racial Differences in Public Support for Change", Criminology 42(2): 391–416, May 2004. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00524.x.
  • "New Directions in Social Disorganization Theory", Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 40(4):374–402, December 2003. doi:10.1177/0022427803256238.
  • "Retaliatory Homicide: Concentrated Disadvantage and Neighborhood Culture", Social Problems 50(2):157–180, May 2003. doi:10.1525/sp.2003.50.2.157.
  • "Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience", Criminology 40(2):435–456, May 2002. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2002.tb00962.x.
  • “Incidents of Police Misconduct and Public Opinion,” Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 5 (2002): 397-408.
  • “White, Black, or Blue Cops? Race and Citizen Assessments of Police Officers,” Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 4 (2000): 313-324.
  • "Racialized policing: Residents' perceptions in three neighborhoods", Law & Society Review 34(1):129–155, 2000. doi:10.2307/3115118.
  • “Citizens’ Perceptions of Police Misconduct: Race and Neighborhood Context,” Justice Quarterly, 16, 4 (December 1999): 1101-1128.
  • "Prostitution Control in America: Rethinking Public Policy", Crime, Law, and Social Change 32(1):83–102, 1999. doi:10.1023/A:1008305200324.
  • "Prostitutes Rights In The United States: The Failure Of A Movement", Sociological Quarterly 32(1):23–41, Spring 1991. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1991.tb00343.x.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ronald Weitzer, Professor of Sociology", Sociology at the George Washington University Campus (website), 2007.
  2. ^ "Faculty Listing", George Washington University Bulletin 2007–2008.
  3. ^ Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, edited by Ronald Weitzer, Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0-415-92294-1 (hc), ISBN 0-415-92295-X (pb).
  4. ^ "Prostitution control in America: rethinking public policy" by Ronald Weitzer, Crime, Law, and Social Change 32(1):83–102, 1999. doi:10.1023/A:1008305200324.
  5. ^ "Why prostitution initiative misses" by Ronald Weitzer, San Francisco Chronicle, September 26, 2004.
  6. ^ "Debating Trafficking" (letter) by Ronald Weitzer, National Review, October 22, 2007. (Response to: "Looking Beneath the Surface" by Donna M. Hughes, National Review, October 1, 2007.)
  7. ^ a b c "The growing moral panic over prostitution and sex trafficking" by Ronald Weitzer, The Criminologist 30(5):1,3–5, September/October 2005.
  8. ^ a b c "Prostitution panic" by Ronald Weitzer, American Sexuality (online journal), February 9, 2006.
  9. ^ a b c "The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade" by Ronald Weitzer, Politics & Society 35(3):447–475, September 2007.
  10. ^ “Flawed Theory and Method in Studies of Prostitution” by Ronald Weitzer, Violence Against Women 11(7): 934–949, July 2005.
  11. ^ "Prostitution Harms Women Even if Indoors: Reply to Weitzer" by Melissa Farley, Violence Against Women 11(7): 950–964, July 2005.
  12. ^ "Rehashing Tired Claims About Prostitution: A Response to Farley and Raphael and Shapiro" by Ronald Weitzer, Violence Against Women 11(7): 971–977, July 2005.
  13. ^ "Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience" by Ronald Weitzer and Steven Tuch, Criminology 40(2):435–456, May 2002. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2002.tb00962.x
  14. ^ " GW Study Explores Profiling Response: Professors Weitzer and Tuch Find Racial Profiling Viewed as Widespread Across America" by Eric Solomon, ByGeorge! Online, George Washington University, May 15, 2003.
  15. ^ "Incidents of Police Misconduct and Public Opinion" by Ronald Weitzer, Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(5):397–408, 2002. doi:10.1016/S0047-2352(02)00150-2.

“Sex Trafficking and the Sex Industry: The Need for Evidence-Based Theory and Legislation,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 101, 4 (Fall 2011): 1337-1369.

other writings by Ronald Weitzer

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