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The dilemma of labeling: child and adolescent prostitution and related concepts

Based on a brief review of the bibliography, this paper relates some of the main controversies related to the labeling of the phenomenon of female child and adolescent prostitution. In the last two decades, the phenomenon has gone through a reinterpretation, being reduced to an image of victimization and the social marginalization of sexually exploited children and adolescents. The paper examines if the homogenized picture that this image presents assumes a considerable level of stigmatization and is condensed into a stereotyped form of production of knowledge that reinforces the idea of submission in these subjects. The article looks to bring new content to the phenomenon, by presenting a psychosocial analysis that seeks to contribute to the critical discussion concerning the productions that have child and adolescent prostitution as their object of study.

Prostitution; Stigma; Victimization


Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Núcleo de Editoração SBI - Campus II, Av. John Boyd Dunlop, s/n. Prédio de Odontologia, 13060-900 Campinas - São Paulo Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 19 3343-7223 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: psychologicalstudies@puc-campinas.edu.br