Exploitation,Offense,or Private Issue? Guardians’ Perceptions and Self-Efficacy in Handling Girl Compensated Dating in Hong Kong

Abstract

Compensated dating (CD) has emerged as a global concern since the 1990s. Although considerable empirical research has been conducted to assess the patterns of and factors influencing CD, limited information is currently available on the attitudes of guardians (e.g., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives) in a Chinese community toward this issue. Using survey data collected from 962 guardians, the current study analyzes the guardians’ perceptions of CD and their self-efficacy in handling this issue. Results show that these guardians perceive CD to be exploitative or harmful and that their self-efficacy in handling this issue was low. In particular, social workers appeared to be considerably tolerant for this phenomenon. Perceptions of CD were partly predictable by age, gender, and educational attainment, whereas self-efficacy was partly predictable by experience working with cases involving CD. This study represents the first attempt to analyze the guardians’ views on a new form of child abuse. Moreover, this research has implications for social intervention, policy, and future research.

Keywords

Chinese girls compensated dating sexual exploitation teen prostitution guardians

Introduction

The various forms of commercial sex take place in different venues in Hong Kong, including “love hotels” used by street sex workers, night clubs, one-woman brothels, saunas, and massage parlors. Recently, compensated dating (CD) has become a phenomenon of concern. Although CD is not identical to teen prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation (Li, Cheung, Jia, Yu, & Nguyen, 2016), most CD cases have been found to encompass prostitution services, with exploitation by pimps and customers (Li, 2015). These three terms (CD, teen prostitution, and sexual exploitation) are therefore used interchangeably in this article.

Originating in Japan in the 1970s, CD (enjo-kosai in Japanese) has become a widespread social problem in many Asian societies, including Korea (e.g., Kim, 2003; Kong, 2003), Taiwan (e.g., Li, 2006; Yeung, Wu, & Chen, 2002), Hong Kong (e.g., Cheung, Lee, & Li, 2011; Chu et al., 2009; Li, 2015), and mainland China (Clem, 2011). Similar phenomena refers to “sugar daddy” relationships in the United States (Kitchener, 2014) and “transactional sex” in Africa (Williams, Binagwaho, & Betancourt, 2012) respectively. Enjo means “assistance” in the business realm, and kosai implies “socializing and entertaining” in the context of society and culture (Kinsella, 2012; Lam, 2003). Wakabayashi (2003) asserted that enjo-kosai may consist of various nonsexual services, including having dinner, watching a movie, and visiting an amusement park. In searching for a contextually relevant definition and common understanding of CD among different guardians in Hong Kong, the research team of the current study conducted an expert group meeting and performed a review of existing literature. Subsequently, in the current study, CD is defined as any behavior involving subsidized dating and freelance teenage prostitution.

This study is important for three reasons. First, although considerable empirical work has been conducted to assess the factors contributing to CD (e.g., Cheung et al., 2011; Ho, 2003; Lam, 2003; Messner & Rosenfeld, 1994; Radford & Tsutsumi, 2004) and the patterns and process of engagement of adolescents (Li, 2015), little is known about guardians’ attitudes toward this issue. Other studies have analyzed public attitudes toward commercial sex (e.g., Cao & Maguire, 2013; Cao & Stack, 2010), but guardians’ views on commercial sex have rarely been investigated, apart from some studies of law enforcement agents (e.g., Halter, 2010; Kimberly, Finkelhor, & Wolak, 2010). Understanding the views of guardians who have a designated role to look after minors is essential for policy and practice. Second, Hong Kong citizens’ attitudes toward CD are mixed, as they are influenced by a combination of Chinese, Japanese, and Western cultures. Public perceptions of whether CD breaches the law, is a private matter between two persons, or is a form of exploitation remain unresolved, and justifications for various views remain uncertain. This study sheds light on these issues. Third, whether the problem is best tackled individually or jointly by guardians at different levels, such as parents (at the private level), neighbors (at the parochial level), social workers (at the helping professional level), or police officers (at the criminal justice level) is largely unknown. This study addresses the above issues by capturing and analyzing the views of guardians in Hong Kong through a questionnaire survey.

Societal Responses to CD

Compensated dating and similar phenomena have been a global concern for many years. The First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was held in 1996 in Stockholm, Sweden (commonly referred to as the Stockholm Agenda); the Second Congress was in 2001 in Yokohama, Japan; and the Third Congress was in 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the Stockholm Agenda (United Nations, 1996), commercial sex with minors and similar phenomena are a kind of child abuse:

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a fundamental violation of children’s rights. It comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery. (p. 1)

Despite an acknowledgment of the issue, the commercial sexual exploitation of minors remains an unaddressed form of child abuse (Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2013), and prostitution among female youths has been largely misunderstood, trivialized, or ignored (Menaker & Franklin, 2013). Moreover, it has been recognized that this problem is a difficult issue for law enforcement, child welfare, and social service agencies to confront due to conflicting conceptualizations involved (Halter, 2010). An empirical investigation of perceptions and attitudes is therefore vital.

Legal, Social, and Policy Responses to CD in Hong Kong

CD can be dealt with by the criminal justice system and/or social welfare alternatives in Hong Kong. The Crime Ordinance (Cap. 200) provides legal guidelines for criminal sanctions against CD customers, pimps, and service providers. A male customer who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 is guilty of an offense and can be imprisoned for 5 years. A pimp can be found guilty of living wholly or in part on earnings from the prostitution of another, and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 10 years. A service provider can be charged for soliciting and subjected to a fine of HK$10,000 (US$1,280) and imprisonment for 6 months. The Protection of Children and Juvenile Ordinance (Cap. 213) authorizes the juvenile court to assign institutionalized treatment for a maximum period of 3 years to an underage individual who is believed to be at risk of sexual abuse.

Social welfare measures are also available for juveniles involved in CD. Nineteen District Youth Outreach Social Work Teams are providing counseling and guidance services to address the needs of high-risk youths, including those who engage in CD (Social Welfare Department, 2016). A small number of NGOs are providing specialized services to both CD customers and service providers through counseling and personal development programs, and are advocating juveniles’ sexual rights and autonomy. The growing concern among different parties in the community over issues related to youth CD led the Hong Kong Central Policy Unit to commission a research project in 2011 examining adolescent CD and the feasibility of its prevention through the family. The current study assumes that social intervention can occur beyond the family.

Guardians of Juveniles Involved in CD

Scholars have proposed that crime rarely occurs in the presence of a capable guardian (Cohen & Felson, 1979), who may be defined as “any person and every person on the scene of a potential crime that may notice and intervene” (Hollis-Peel, Reynald, van Bavel, Elffers, & Welsh, 2011, p. 57). “Guardianship” is defined as “the process by which citizens function as effective informal crime prevention and control agents” (Reynald, 2014, p. 2480). Clarke and Eck (2005) divided up the informal crime control agents into “guardians” (those who protect the target/victim, such as family members, police officers, or private security officers), “handlers” (individuals who have some control over the offender’s actions, such as parents, teachers, friends, and probation officers), and “place managers” (owners or designees who are liable to control the behavior of people in specific locations, such as schoolteachers, bus drivers, or residential landlords). In this study, parents, social workers, police officers, and community leaders, assume guardianship responsibility to protect young people from being hurt and exploited by offenders. The willingness and ability of guardians to intervene are fundamental in tackling crime (Reynald, 2010). As this study was not experimental, it is not possible to test the actual capability of guardians in handling the issue of CD. It is more feasible to collect data about their self-efficacy in tackling this issue. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s perceptions of his or her ability to organize and execute actions required for designated types of performance (Bandura, 1986). The current study examines the extent to which guardians at private, parochial, and public levels believe they are equipped with adequate knowledge, skills, and confidence to handle CD.

Parents are one of the four groups of guardians in this study. At the private level, a young person’s family is assumed to have a crucial role in addressing CD. Regarding the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of girls, it is expected that families “providing strength and support contribute enormously to the process of healing and provision of future protection” (Mclntyre, 2014).

The second group of guardians is community leaders who assume a role of crime prevention. Their responses represent ideas at the parochial level. Community support, in terms of values, assistance, and socio-economic opportunities can decrease familial risk factors and increase the probability of child protection (Mclntyre, 2014).

The third group of guardians is police officers, who represent the views of the criminal justice system. Although criminal justice is commonly used to try and manage adolescent CD, Western and Asian societies differ in their approach. In the West, the basis of intervention is the principle of protection, whereas in Asia, the principle of punitive welfare is the basis for dealing with delinquent youth. For example, the Protection of Children From Sexual Predators Act enacted in 1998 in the United States aims to penalize violators who intend to entice, encourage, offer, or solicit any minors to engage in criminal sexual conduct (Wakabayashi, 2003). In 2008, the Hong Kong police adopted a proactive approach to cracking down on CD, with undercover officers deployed in Operation “Whale-diver” to detect CD activities (Lo, 2011).

The fourth group of guardians is helping professionals who have a prominent role in tackling juvenile prostitution. Social workers undertake various tasks in this area, including “advocacy and practice ranging from economic capacity-building, community development and education, to challenging abusive social mores and cultural traditions and providing follow-up care on a victim’s return to the community” (Roby, 2005, p. 145). For example, as early as the 1970s, a community therapy program consisting of vocational, communication, and assertiveness training was implemented in the United States to prevent adolescent prostitution (Hogg, 1979).

Guardians’ Perceptions of and Preferred Responses to CD

Attitudes and responses to CD or teen prostitution vary among guardians in Hong Kong. Attitudes are largely determined by perceptions of the nature of CD, which fall into three categories: (a) harm, (b) exploitation, and (c) private gratification.

When CD is viewed as illegal, immoral, or harmful in a society, intervention is more likely to be justifiable and supported. Early studies have indicated that CD or teen prostitution is physically and psychologically harmful to teenage girls (e.g., Heilemann & Santhiveeran, 2011; Li, 2006) and to the sanctity of the family (Hayes, Carpenter, & Dwyer, 2012). Moreover, some Chinese citizens, particularly those who value their family, consider prostitution as unjustified and unacceptable (Cao & Stack, 2010). In a telephone survey of law enforcement staff in the United States, Kimberly et al. (2010) found that 31% of the juveniles arrested on a prostitution-related charge were categorized as delinquents. Likewise, Halter (2010), in her content analysis of police case files of juvenile prostitution, found that 40% of the juveniles were considered to be offenders.

Adolescents who engage in CD or teen prostitution may be perceived as victims of sexual exploitation if they were sold by their family or relatives due to poverty (e.g., Cusick, 2002), and suffered from stigmatization (e.g., van Hook, Gjermeni, & Haxhiymeri, 2006). Kimberly et al. (2010) found that law enforcement officers were more likely to have a juvenile-as-victim orientation, with 53% of the individuals arrested on a prostitution-related charge being identified as victims. Halter (2010) found that 60% of juveniles in such cases were regarded as victims. People with this orientation are likely to seek protection for minors, and to deter customers and pimps through criminal justice measures.

Alternatively, prostitution may be perceived as a consensual and private interaction between two parties (Sander, O’Neill, & Pitcher, 2009). From this point of view, prostitution is tolerable for some citizens. A survey in Hong Kong found that nearly half of the respondents aged 12 to 20 years did not consider CD to be prostitution because it does not necessarily involve sex, the teenager has autonomy (e.g., she can say no), and it includes emotional exchanges (Chu et al., 2009). It has been suggested that teen prostitutes need safe spaces free of judgment, and social services that recognize their dignity and autonomy (Marcus et al., 2012). With this orientation, respecting sexual rights and keeping intervention as minimal as possible are considered the right approach.

Public attitudes to prostitution and prostitutes can be predicted by demographic characteristics (Cao & Maguire, 2013; Cotton, Farley, & Baron, 2002; May, 1999; Rasanen & Wilska, 2007; Wagner, 1997). For example, Cotton et al. (2002) proposed that patriarchal attitudes in a given society encourage men to feel entitled to sexual access to women and to feel superior to women. In the United States, people with a religious background were found to have less tolerance for prostitution (Cao & Maguire, 2013). People with higher educational attainment have been found to be more supportive of suppressive strategies against prostitution (Wagner, 1997). Male students in Finland were found to be more accepting of prostitution than were their female counterparts (Rasanen & Wilska, 2007).

The present article attempts to add substantially to knowledge of guardianship and CD in Chinese society by examining (a) guardians’ perceptions of CD and (b) self-perceived capacity of guardians to intervene at different levels. Specifically, this study tests whether variation in these two factors exists among guardians at different levels, those with different demographic characteristics, and those with different working and vicarious experiences of CD.

Method

Research Location

Hong Kong is a Chinese coastal city that was under the colonial rule of the British government for about 150 years until 1997. The population of Hong Kong in 2013 was close to 7.2 million, and 95% of its citizens are of Chinese descent (Hong Kong Census & Statistics Department, 2014). Thus, it is reasonable to assume that guardians’ attitudes are influenced by Chinese culture. Given the increase in mobile phone services from 4.4 million units in 2003 to 7.8 million units in 2013 (Hong Kong Census & Statistics Department, 2014), adolescents and potential customers of CD are expected to connect more easily through smart phones.

Participants

Through invitation letters detailing the research objectives, procedures, and possible risks and rewards to appropriate units, the research team solicited responses from four groups of guardians (parents of students, social workers, community leaders, and police officers). In total, 1,005 completed questionnaires were collected. After careful checking, 43 were discarded due to sloppy responses, leaving 962 valid cases for analysis. Of these, 311 were parents, 147 were community representatives, 287 were social workers, and 217 were police officers.

For the parent sample, two stages of stratification were used according to the district (of 5 districts) and banding (Bands 1, 2, or 3). 15 schools of the same band in each district (5 districts × 3 bands × 15 schools = 225 schools) were invited to participate through a letter to the parent–teacher association of each school. 39 associations took part in this study, representing a response rate of 17.5%.

For the other 3 groups (community leaders, social workers, and police officers), a purposive sampling technique was used. In sampling community representatives, the target was the 520 members of the District Fight Crime Committees and District Boards. Invitation letters were delivered to all members individually, and 158 of them returned the surveys, giving a response rate of 30%.

With the permission and assistance of the Hong Kong Police Department, invitation letters were sent to 56 police units responsible for preventing youth crimes. Of these, 36 units took part in the study, representing a response rate of 65%.

In sampling social workers, the target was social workers with professional training and those working in youth service units. Of the 225 units invited to participate, 58 took part in the study, giving a response rate of 26%.

The average age of the participants was 38.5 years (range = 18-63; SD = 10.4), and 54.9% were female. They had received an average of 13.6 years of education (i.e., completed high school education [range = 0-8; SD = 3.4]). Of the 962 respondents, 64.7% were married, and 60% of the married participants had children (see Table 2).

Design and Procedures

A survey questionnaire adopting several validated scales published in previous literature and containing approximately 65 items was first prepared in English and then translated into Chinese using the back-translation method (Brislin, 1970). With the aim of obtaining better content validity of the items, the expression of some items was fine-tuned after an expert panel meeting that included police officers, social workers, scholars, and a lawyer, and a pilot test involving 50 guardians. The interview questions, study protocol, and data confidentiality assurances of the study were approved by the Research Committee of the City University of Hong Kong. Each respondent gave formal consent to his or her participation in the study.

Variables

The dependent variables included two measures that indicated respondents’ perception of CD and their self-efficacy in handling CD. The current study tested whether these two variables were predictable by guardians’ working and vicarious experience of CD and their demographic background. To examine the variables for each type of guardian, a series of dummy variables representing the four types of guardian were created.

Perceptions of CD

The Disapproving Attitudes Toward Prostitution Scale by Lavoie, Thibodeau, Gagné, and Hébert (2010) was adopted with minor mofidication to measure the respondents’ attitudes toward CD. As shown in Table 1, 21 items in three sub-scales with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .72 to .80 were used to measure the degree to which the respondents regarded CD as harmful, exploitative, and private gratification. The respondents rated their level of agreement to each item based on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 4 = extremely much.

Table 1.

Construction of Dependent Variables.

Variable 1	Survey ItemsHow Much Do You Agree With the Following Statements Regarding Compensated Dating?	Response Categories	Cronbach’s α
Harm	CD contributes positively to society. R The negative effects that CD have on communities and neighborhoods should be made known. Providing CD for money, drugs, etc. is humiliating. CD has always existed so there is no reason to be concerned about it. R CD is a disturbing social phenomenon. There is no good reason to encourage CD. People who engage in CD are putting their health at risk. CD is immoral. I would do anything to prevent one of my friends from involving herself in CD. We should talk more about the benefits of CD for society. R	1 = not at all 2 = a little 3 = rather much 4 = extremely much	.73
Exploitation	A customer of CD is someone who takes advantage of the service provider. A girl who involves herself in CD is treated like a sexual object and not like a person. CD exploits girls. CD is an unfair exchange in which one person is exploited for another person’s pleasure.	1 = not at all 2 = a little 3 = rather much 4 = extremely much	.80
Private gratification	For the service provider, CD is a good way to enjoy an active sex life. CD is an expression of the freedom to do what one wants with one’s body.	1 = not at all 2 = a little 3 = rather much 4 = extremely much	.72
	CD is an opportunity for the service provider to receive affection.Girls involved in CD are those who are looking for a little pleasure.CD allows the service providers to satisfy their sexual desires or fantasies in a healthy way.CD gives the service provider the advantage of allowing her to try all kinds of sexual practices.CD is a good way for the service provider to have sexual relations without any commitment.
Variable 2	According to your working experience in dealing with issues concerning the sexual behavior of girls, to what extent do you agree with the following?
Work efficacy	I am confident about my ability to handle CD.I am self-assured of my capabilities to perform activities related to handling CD.I have mastered the skills necessary for handling CD.	1 = not at all 2 = a little 3 = somewhat 4 = extremely much	.89

Note. CD = compensated dating. Reserve items are marked with R. The value for the response is converted from 1 through 4 to 0 through 100, that is, 0 = not at all, 33.33 = a little, 66.67 = somewhat, and 100 = very much.

Self-efficacy

The respondents’ self-efficacy in handling CD was assessed using the following three items adopted from the measure of Psychological Empowerment in the Workplace (Spreitzer, 1995): “I am confident about my ability to handle this issue,” “I am self-assured about my capabilities to perform activities related to handling this issue,” and “I have mastered the skills necessary for handling this problem.” The respondents rated their efficacy on a 4-point scale (see Table 1) of 1 = not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = extremely much. The Cronbach’s alpha associated with this scale is .89.

Working and vicarious experience

The respondents indicated their acquaintances with CD service providers or customers and their working experience in handling issues related to CD in the previous year by answering the following questions: “Over the past year, did you know anyone who was a service provider of CD?” “Over the past year, did you know anyone who has been a customer of CD?” and “Over the past year, did you have working experience in handling CD among adolescents?” These questions were answered either by 0 = no or 1 = yes.

Demographic and response characteristics

Each respondent indicated his or her gender (0 = male, 1 = female), age (in years), level of education (in years), marital status (0 = not married, 1 = married), children (0 = no, 1 = yes; if the answer was “yes,” the number of boys and girls was recorded), tenure (in years) in their current profession, and the rank of their current work position. The parents also indicated the rank of the current work position of their spouse.

Analysis

Frequency distributions, reliability tests, mean comparisons, and linear regression analyses were used in the data analysis. The frequency distributions described the guardians’ responses to all the items that measured their attitude toward CD and self-perceived efficacy in handling CD. Reliability tests confirmed the internal consistency of all the items. The regression analysis provided estimates of the coefficients of all variables for guardians’ attitudes toward and self-perceived efficacy in handling CD.

Results

Perceptions of Compensated Dating

Table 2 reports the different guardians’ perceptions of CD, with the response categories of 0 = not at all, 33.33 = a little, 66.67 = somewhat, and 100 = extremely much. The data indicated that guardians generally hold a rather strong view that CD was harmful (M = 74.3), a modest view that CD was exploitative (M = 57.3), and a rather weak belief that CD was private gratification (M = 26.3). Among the four groups of guardians, parents (private-level guardians) demonstrated a strong belief that CD was harmful (M = 80.5), and were less likely to regard it as private gratification (M = 22.8) than the other three groups. Interestingly, the police officers who participated in this study were more likely to regard CD as private gratification (M = 36.0) than were the other three groups.

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics.

	Social Worker (N = 287)		Parent (N = 311)		Community Representative (N = 147)		Police (N = 217)		All (N = 962)
Variables	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Dependent variables
Perception
Regarding CD as harmful	68.6	15.1	80.5	14.8	76.6	13.1	71.3	15.3	74.3	15.5
Regarding CD as private gratification	24.5	15.1	22.8	19.8	23.1	17.7	36.0	22.1	26.3	19.5
Regarding CD as exploitation	52.5	22.1	62.5	26.0	58.3	23.6	55.7	21.2	57.3	23.8
Efficacy	35.8	18.1	27.0	24.4	31.0	21.7	39.3	20.6	33.0	22.0
Skills	30.5	18.4	24.7	28.1	26.6	22.9	36.4	22.5	29.4	23.8
Self-assured capabilities	38.0	21.2	25.7	25.6	31.7	23.2	39.6	23.9	33.4	24.3
Confidence	38.8	20.3	30.7	28.3	34.7	24.7	41.9	23.3	36.2	24.8
Independent variables
Working and vicarious experience
Knowing CD providers	25.4	43.6	2.6	15.9	11.8	32.4	8.8	28.3	12.2	32.7
Knowing CD customers	12.9	33.6	2.3	14.9	6.3	24.3	4.6	21.0	6.6	24.8
Working with CD	20.2	40.2	1.3	11.3	10.4	30.7	12.0	32.5	10.7	31.0
Demographic characteristics
Age	31.5(18-52)	9.0	44.6(18-63)	6.8	44.9(27-63)	11.4	36.2(18-52)	9.1	38.5(18-63)	10.4
Education	15.8(13-18)	1.8	11.9(0-18)	3.6	15.0(4-18)	3.4	12.0(4-18)	2.5	13.6(0-18)	3.4
Female	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.5
Tenure	8.4(0.3-36)	7.0	9.9(0-35)	10.9	19.8(1-45)	11.3	15.0(2-35)	8.9	12.1(0-45)	10.3
Married (%)	39.2	47.2	88.0	32.6	81.4	39.0	62.1	48.6	64.7	47.8
Have children (%)	17.1	37.7	100.0	0.0	73.6	47.4	43.9	49.7	58.5	49.7

Note. CD = compensated dating. The values range from 0 to 100, except for age, education, and tenure. The ranges of these variables are in parentheses.

Self-Efficacy in Handling CD

This study also examines the self-rated capability of various guardians in handling CD. Table 2 indicates that, generally, the guardians did not show considerable efficacy in handling CD (M = 33, falling into the response category of “a little”). Of the four groups, the parents reported the lowest efficacy (M = 27), falling between “not at all” and “a little,” and the police officers displayed higher efficacy (M = 39.3) than the other groups, falling between “a little” and “somewhat.” All four groups considered themselves to have insufficient skills for handling CD.

Factors Influencing Perceptions of CD

This study assessed whether guardians’ perceptions of CD and self-efficacy in terms of intervention were predictable by their working and vicarious experience with CD and/or their demographic background. Table 3 reports the results of the regression analysis, which showed that taking police officers as the reference group, social workers had a significantly weaker belief that CD was harmful. In contrast, the parent and community representatives were significantly less likely to view CD as private gratification. There were no significant differences in the view that CD was exploitation. Table 3 also reveals that the guardians with more years of education were significantly more likely to view CD as harmful and exploitative, and female respondents felt significantly more strongly that CD was harmful than did the male respondents. Older respondents were more likely to regard CD as exploitation. The predictors had weak explanatory power for guardians’ perception of CD as exploitation, registering an R² of .115. The explanatory power for the perception of CD as harmful was higher, with an R² of .256. The R² for self-efficacy in handling CD was .149. The predictors had quite good explanatory power for the perception of CD as private gratification, reaching an R² of .357.

Table 3.

Regression Analysis of the Three Perceptions About CD (N = 962).

	CD as Harmful	CD as Private Gratification	CD as Exploitation	Work Efficacy
Predictor	β	β	β	β
Guardian type
Parent	.072	−.181***	.056	–.229***
Community representative	−.017	−.121**	−.023	–.113**
Social worker	−.197***	−.064	.004	.013
Experience with CD
Knowing CD providers	−.056	.002	−.059	.074
Knowing CD customers	−.020	−.018	−.042	.066
Working with CD	.007	.003	−.005	.078*
Demographic characteristic
Age	.075	−.038	.142*	–.024
Education	.135***	.003	.187***	–.005
Female	.155***	−.028	−.003	.033
Tenure	−.008	.012	−.014	.117*
Married	.080	−.008	.048	–.032
Have children	.064	−.062	.056	.059
R²	.256	.357	.115	.149

Note. CD = compensated dating. Reference categories were police, not knowing CD providers or customers, not working with CD, male, not married, and not having children.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Factors Influencing Self-Efficacy in Handling CD

Table 3 shows that, taking police officers as the reference group, parents and community leaders have lower ratings for self-efficacy in handling CD involving girls. The more working experience with CD the respondents had, the higher they scored their self-efficacy in handling the issue. Guardians with a tenured job believed themselves to be more capable of handling CD. Age, gender, education level, marital status, and the number of children had no significant effects on guardians’ self-efficacy in handling CD.

Discussion

The main objective of this study is to compare and contrast the attitudes of guardians toward CD, which is a new form of sexual exploitation of minors, as well as the self-perceived efficacy of guardians in handling this issue. Methodologically, this research is the first local study to investigate the perceptions of guardians in Hong Kong toward youth CD at four specific levels (i.e., parents, police officers, social workers, and community leaders). Different from the prior literature that focuses on the public view on teen prostitution, the current study assesses the attitudes of those who assume guardianship responsibilities of young people. The responses of these guardians can provide specific and relevant policy and practical implications. The prevalence and controversy of their orientation toward this complex youth issue can offer insights into future multiple-party collaboration for intervention. For example, the lay and professional views of parents and social workers, respectively, are complementary.

This study has several major findings. First, various guardians in Chinese society disapproved of CD regardless of whether CD is harmful or exploitative. This finding is consistent with those of previous studies on public attitudes toward teen prostitution (Cao & Stack, 2010). CD is unlikely to be a private issue between two persons in a society that emphasizes collectivism and shame. Therefore, intervention into CD is justifiable in Hong Kong. Compared with police officers, social workers were less likely to perceive CD as harmful. Most parents did not perceive CD as a private matter between two persons. The social workers involved in the current study appeared to be considerably tolerant for adolescent CD; this attitude may be related to the professional values of social work and the principles of “respect” and “individuality” (Biestek, 1961), thereby nurturing a liberal mind-set. In addition, social workers avoid using the term juvenile prostitution, which is a term they consider negative and offensive to their service users (Peled & Lugasi, 2015). By contrast, parents and community leaders did not identify CD as a private matter. This belief is probably the result of the ethical governance and collective responsibility emphasized in Chinese communities (Chen, 2004) in which the wrongdoing of an individual is consistently regarded as a shame on the entire family.

Second, the descriptive data indicated that the guardians from all four groups did not score themselves highly for efficacy in handling CD. This finding has three possible explanations. First, people’s knowledge and understanding of CD are limited because this issue is still an emerging phenomenon in Hong Kong. Second, CD is less visible and detectable than delinquent acts, such as drug abuse, truancy, and gang involvement. This observation is consistent with the view of Menaker and Franklin (2013), who explained that commercial sex involving female youths has been generally trivialized and ignored. However, having adequate professional training and proven intervention approaches specific to this target group is fundamental for intervention (Peled & Lugasi, 2015). Social workers in Hong Kong may need to provide additional time to accommodate these requirements. Third, Chinese parents are influenced by a culture of shame; thus, they are reluctant to allow outsiders to know that their children engage in a morally questionable activity. These parents may feel helpless when confronted with this type of situation. A key finding in this study is particularly noteworthy: The perceived efficacy in handling CD is enhanced with increased working experience in cases involving CD. This finding has implications for preparing guardians to address this difficult issue.

Third, this study expands and enriches the theoretical concepts of “capable guardian” and “guardianship” in three dimensions. First, this research is an attempt to clarify the manner of measuring a guardian’s capability to handle CD. Second, the current study confirms the assertion of Felson (2006) that the ability of guardians is dependent on their knowledge level of the issue. This claim is supported by the fact that the guardians involved in the present study demonstrated high self-perceived efficacy if they had additional working experience with CD. Third, this study considers guardianship at multiple levels (i.e., private, parochial, and public) instead of merely a single level. The differences observed across levels are associated with the guardians’ different professional or cultural backgrounds, as well as their roles in supervision. This finding suggests that tailored training and support for different guardians are required.

Finally, the findings of this study have two implications for policy and practice. These findings support intervening into CD cases in Hong Kong. The ambiguous nature of CD may require the government to demonstrate a zero-tolerance attitude through publicity and facilitate the individual or collaborative efforts of different parties for intervention. The data indicate that parents doubt their ability to exert control over this issue. Therefore, education and training for parents may be required. Social workers with high self-perceived efficacy for handling CD could coach parents in communicating and interacting with their children. Learning by doing appears to be the most feasible method to enhance the capability of guardians to handle this issue. In addition to intervention by a specific group of guardians, multidisciplinary approaches that promote collaboration with health workers, youth justice workers, support agencies, and the police are the effective methods of maximizing resources and input with young women involved in commercial sex (Coy, 2008; Hunter, 2003). Finally, CD or teen prostitution is a complex and debatable phenomenon in any society; thus, service professionals must first be clear about their own personal and professional attitudes toward this issue and address their own complex emotions, prejudices, and stigmas involved (Peled & Lugasi, 2015). Accordingly, self-awareness training and self-assessment of personal orientation are vital.

This study has some limitations and implications for future research. First, Hong Kong has been part of the People’s Republic of China since 1997, but its legal system, official policies, and social circumstances are different from those in mainland China. The findings are therefore not wholly generalizable to other parts of China. Future research should examine the views of guardians in other Chinese societies, including those in mainland China and Taiwan. Second, this study uses self-report data. Thus, the results do not demonstrate influences based on objective measurement. Future research needs to incorporate objective measures in the investigation as well. Third, like other studies on public attitudes to prostitution, the current study is subject to the respondents’ social desirability bias (Cao & Maguire, 2013).

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research project articulated in this article was supported by a grant awarded by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project CityU155712).

Author Biographies

Jessica C. M. Li is an assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are in the fields of violence against females, social work practices with offenders, and policing. She has published articles in International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, International Social Work, and British Journal of Social Work. She is a registered social worker in Hong Kong with the service practice with young offenders for more than 15 years.

Chau-kiu Cheung, PhD, is an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong, China. He has recently published articles concerning civility, social inclusion, resilience, character education, moral development, peer influence, and class mobility. His current research addresses issues of grandparenting, drug abuse, risk society, and Internet use.

Cindy X. S. Jia is a PhD student in the Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong.

Budeba P. Mlyakado is currently a PhD student in the Department of Applied Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, and an assistant lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Dar es Salaam University College of Education. He is interested in child and adolescent well-being, sexuality education, and social psychology, and has published in Research Academic International and International Journal of Education.

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