413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Commission’s recommendations, which incorporate characteristics such as offenders’ collecting behavior
and involvement with offender networks, would aid in properly classifying different types of offenders,
which could also inform the types of offenders targeted by law enforcement.
Future Directions for Research
The current study makes several contributions to the knowledge base on the underground commercial sex
market in the United States and the findings lend themselves to implications for future research in this
area. Several aspects of the findings merit further investigation:
1. Although we presented the estimates for the underground commercial sex, drugs and weapons
economies for seven of the eight study sites for 2003 and 2007, we did not provide further
analysis as to why these illicit economies increased or decreased over time. Future research could
entail in-depth analyses of economic, social, and environmental factors in these eight cities during
this time period to shed light on why these economies changed over time.
2. Further research can, and should, be conducted to test the validity and reliability of the method
used to estimate the underground commercial sex economy. If the method proves to be both valid
and reliable, it could be replicated to estimate the size of the UCSE in other US cities.
3. Though researchers have observed the use of psychological manipulation and “finesse pimping”
to control women and girls, more research is needed to elaborate on the methods of psychological
coercion revealed by this report and earlier studies. Future directions for research include the role
of romantic relationships between pimps and employees in the facilitation of sex work and victim
experiences and consequences of psychological coercion. In addition, research should explore
indicators of individuals at-risk for psychological coercion.
4. More research is necessary to explore the reasons and circumstances that compel youth and
women to participate in sex work through a pimp. Understanding the perceived benefits of not
only engaging in sex work, but engaging in the underground sex market through the facilitation of
a pimp, will help identify individuals at-risk for recruitment.
5. Legislative analyses should be undertaken to ascertain how existing state laws governing
wiretapping, cross-deputization, and human trafficking might be amended to better promote the
incorporation of organized crime investigative strategies into human trafficking and prostitution
investigations.
6. Although law enforcement claimed that there is a link between sex tourism and child
pornography, there currently is no empirical evidence to demonstrate this connection. Research
on this topic can shed more light on this issue, and potentially identify more ways to effectively
combat both child pornography and sex tourism.
7. Though stakeholders, child pornography offenders, and researchers suspect a correlation between
technological savviness and risk of detection, there has been little empirical evidence to support
these claims. This gap in knowledge is particularly problematic as almost all existing research on
child pornography offenders is based on apprehended offenders. Additionally, further studies
analyzing gaps in case law versus technological advances that facilitate child pornography would
allow stakeholders to be more effective in investigating and prosecuting offenders.
8. Stakeholders and inmates convicted of child pornography offenses shared a connection between
methamphetamine users and the consumption of child pornography, but there is no available
research to support this claim. Investigating this would grant a deeper understanding into child
pornography offender behavior and could affect law enforcement’s approach to investigating
methamphetamine-related crimes.
9. One point that law enforcement officers and offenders did not agree on was the
commercialization of child pornography. The majority of offenders interviewed for this study
stated that although they had been approached by overseas websites, they had never purchased or
had the intention to purchase child pornography, mainly because they could trade and download
content for free. That said, several stakeholders stated that there were individuals still heavily
profiting from child pornography sales, although they agreed that these individuals were mainly
located overseas. According to law enforcement officials, individuals in the United States were
profiting from child pornography by selling programs that made it easier to trade and download
content. These sites often advertised on websites and message boards that were known to host
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