"It's probably an addiction-It can't be anything else": The role of addiction discourse in the self-identity of men who pay for sex.

This study is about the role of the addiction discourse in the self-identity of Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS). Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction, we identified two main contradictory themes regarding the role of the addict identity in the self-narratives of the participants: one presenting the addict identity as contributing to the participants' positive self-perception and the second as challenging it. Within a social context that often portrays MPWS as perpetrators and abusers, the addiction discourse was a useful source in helping the participants negotiate the dilemma of how to engage in "deviant" acts and still appear to be decent men. While not dismissing the reality of addiction or the distress experienced by some of the participants, we suggest that being "sick" and "having no control over one's actions" might be considered by some MPWS as preferable explanations to being an outlaw, or villain. However, the inconclusive nature of the sex addiction discourse intimidated some of the participants' self-identity, thus stressing the need for a clear definition and further theorization of sex addiction, particularly in the context of sex for pay. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Constructing Identity Through Sex-Consumption: The Consumerist Narratives of Israeli Men Who Pay Women for Sex.

This study examined how consumerism shapes the identity construction processes of Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS). Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction and the theoretical concept of extended self, we explored how Israeli MPWS extend their selves through sex-consumption. To this end, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 23 Israeli MPWS. An interpretive epistemology and a constructivist grounded theory methodology guided the data-analysis. We conceptualized three dynamics of self-identity construction processes through sex-consumption: Extending the self through assimilation of products or experiences, Extending the self through the purchasing process, and Extending the self through consuming the imagined. The findings revealed a complex process, whereby MPWS attribute various and contradictory meanings to their possessions, their consumerist experiences, and their purchasing processes. We conclude that consumerism is central to the meanings that MPWS attribute to their engagement in the sex industry. Thus, the theoretical framework of consumerism should be further applied to future studies in this field in order to gain a nuanced and deeper understanding of MPWS and the phenomenon of sex consumption.

Forging help relationships with commercially sexually exploited youth: Perspectives of Israeli help providers.

BACKGROUND: Previous research points to the many challenges that help providers who support commercially sexually exploited youth encounter in their professional work-yet little is known about how they overcome these challenges, particularly with regard to youth of diverse social backgrounds. OBJECTIVE: The present study applied the conceptual frameworks of help-seeking and intersectionality to explore the professional practices that help providers employ when forging a help relationship with commercially sexually exploited youth. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Israeli help providers who work with commercially sexually exploited youth at various social services. METHOD: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory approach. FINDINGS: We identified six major guiding principles that support the participants' processes of forging a help relationship with commercially sexually exploited youth: Do not assume that the youth view their involvement in commercial sexual exploitation as problematic; Continuously attempt to gain the youth's trust; Start from the point where the youth are; Be available at all times, and maintain a steady long-term relationship; Treat commercially sexually exploited youth as agentic individuals and encourage them to lead the process of establishing a help relationship; Similarity in social backgrounds of help providers and commercially sexually exploited youth promotes youth's engagement in the help relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming the co-existence of benefit and harm in commercial sexual exploitation is essential to forging a help relationship with the youth. Applying the intersectional lens to practice in this field can help preserve the delicate balance between victimhood and agency, thereby enhancing help processes.

The Question of Moral Worth in a Controversial Market: Moral Justification Regimes and Boundary Work Among Israeli Men Who Pay for Sex Abroad.

This study examined the internal moral debate that takes place among Israeli men who pay for sex (MWPS) while traveling abroad. We explored how they construct their sense of moral worth and present themselves as moral subjects in light of the intensified stigmatization of their actions. Using the theoretical frameworks of pragmatic morality and boundary work, we conceptualize four main moral justification regimes that MWPS use to construct themselves as moral subjects: Cultural normalization; Conditional freedom of choice; The altruistic act of charity; and Unpacking the Stigma Discourse. The findings highlight how these justification regimes are anchored in three intersecting fields - cultural, spatial, and power relations - which produce various matrices of conflict, compromise, or collaboration in different situations. Thus, the flexible switching between various justification regimes reveals how MWPS define themselves and their activities and negotiate various moral dispositions - akin to various cultural logics - in the context of moral taint and stigma.

Help-Seeking and Help-Related Experiences of Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.

This interpretive qualitative meta-synthesis (QMS) aims to systematically review what we know about the help-seeking and help-related experiences of commercially sexually exploited youth (CSEY). A comprehensive search of the relevant databases was conducted to identify published qualitative peer-reviewed papers and research reports about the experiences and perceptions of CSEY. A corpus of 34 qualitative studies was compiled and synthesized, using the conceptual framework of help-seeking and QMS guidelines. The QMS reveals that although help-seeking of CSEY are rarely the focus of the inquiry, the reviewed studies include meaningful information about help-related experiences of CSEY. Thus, the synthesis of the available data yields novel insights about how CSEY perceive their involvement in CSE, define the problems they deal with, decide to seek help, choose the proper help, and engage in helping relations. Particularly, the QMS underscores that CSEY do not always perceive their involvement in CSE as problematic, nor do they identify themselves as victims of exploitation. The findings highlight the significance of developing social services that specialize in helping CSEY, the importance of actively identifying CSEY and reaching out to them, and the need to enable CSEY to be involved in decisions about the extent and type of support they are provided.

Paying for Sex During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Israeli Men.

INTRODUCTION: This qualitative study explored the experiences of men who pay women for sex (MWPWS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, which poses radical and profound challenges to various aspects of people's intimate, sexual, and financial experiences. METHODS: The study was based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 Israeli MWPWS who regularly visit various prostitution venues. The interviews were conducted between April and July 2020, between the first and the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. RESULTS: The findings focus on four major aspects of the participants' experiences: the participants' inability to pay for sex, the difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic to participants' sex-for-pay experiences, the positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their sex-for-pay experiences, and the insignificance of COVID-19 pandemic to their sex-for-pay experiences. CONCLUSIONS: I conclude that COVID-19 pandemic triggers various sexual, emotional, and gendered experiences for MWPWS. Accordingly, MWPWS may reevaluate their engagement in sex-for-pay, and their experiences of it may be reshaped in light of the pandemic. I discuss the findings' contribution to sexuality and masculinity studies, and the methodological possibilities that they raise for qualitative scholars studying social phenomena during the COVID-19 pandemic. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: The study highlights the significance of developing ad hoc prostitution policy that supports the individuals involved in the sex industry-both MWPWS and the women who are paid for sex-during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it suggests that prostitution policy should address the diverse experiences of MWPWS, beyond viewing them as merely offenders who should be punished, or re-educated.

Helping individuals in the sex trade during COVID-19: The perspectives of Israeli aid organizations.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a collateral effect on marginalized populations, including individuals in the sex trade (IST). In addition, the literature of the past year has documented a significant impact of the pandemic on healthcare providers. However, there is a lack of research on the new challenges and existing hardships facing aid organizations working with IST populations. This naturalistic qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with 33 IST aid organization workers in Israel between May and July 2020 to capture their perceptions and experiences within broader social-relational contexts. Data analysis revealed that the pandemic impacted three different arenas: The assistance systems and the quality of care; The relationship between aid organizations and state authorities; and The intraorganizational and interorganizational relationship. These findings add to the knowledge about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on aid organizations, particularly the need for greater collaboration between aid organizations during health crises and governmental support for these organizations. In addition, the study highlights the opportunities that a global and local health crisis can create advancing new knowledge and practices used by aid organizations in their work to assist IST populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Identity Construction of Men Who Pay Women for Sex: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.

This interpretive qualitative meta-synthesis (QMS) aims to systematically review what we know about identity construction of men who pay women for sex (MPWS). A corpus of 54 qualitative studies about the experiences and perceptions of MPWS was synthesized, using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction and QMS guidelines. This synthesis yielded novel insights into the meanings that MPWS attribute to their involvement in the sex industry, within a range of interpersonal interactions and social discourses. We identified and expanded on six social discourses that affect the identity construction of MPWS: sexuality; intimacy; consumerism; power; deviancy and normativity; and masculinity. The findings demonstrate that paying for sex (and in particular, the stigma associated with it) permeates many life spheres of MPWS, and affects their gendered, sexual, cultural, intimate, consumerist and social identities, and self-perceptions. The discussion centers on four major understandings derived from the QMS: paying for sex is central to the lives of MPWS; paying for sex generates conflict in the identities of MPWS; discourses of masculinity are prominent in the identity construction processes of MPWS; and the literature on MPWS needs further social and cultural contextualization. These understandings have profound implications for sex-industry-related policy and social interventions.

Paying for Sex While Traveling As Tourists: The Experiences of Israeli Men.

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 15 Israeli men who paid for sex while traveling as tourists abroad, based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with them. The findings focus on three major aspects of the participants' experiences: the meaning of sex for them and their reasons for wanting to pay for it; the problems involved in paying for sex; and paying for sex while traveling abroad as a preferable option to paying for sex in Israel. The discussion offers sociological and psychological intersubjective explanations for the men's preference to pay for sex as tourists overseas.