The influence of hard line policies on victimless crime: by analyzing influence of The Anti Prostitution Law of South Korea
Open Access
Author:
Choi, Hoan Suk
Graduate Program:
Criminal Justice
Degree:
Master of Arts
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
April 02, 2014
Committee Members:
James M Ruiz, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
Deterrence Theory Feminism Functionalism Hard line Policy Prostitution The Anti Prostitution Law The Balloon Effect.
Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between hard line policies on victimless crimes (The Anti Prostitution Law) and its influence (deterrent effect). Since hard line policies against victimless crimes such as Prohibition and The War on Drugs were not successful but caused various side effects, serious budget problems and prison issues, it needs to be determined whether or not The Anti Prostitution Law in South Korea achieved its goal or made the same mistakes as did prior hard line policies.
The data analyzed in this study were drawn from a variety of sources, included the number of sexual traffic (prostitution) from the Korean Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office (KSPPO), the number trafficking from KSPPO, the number of new illegal sex businesses from the Korean Department of Statistics (KDS), and the number of sex crime from KSPPO within South Korea after the enactment of The Anti Prostitution Law.
The paired samples t-test results show that The Anti Prostitution Law was not effective in preventing any of these activities. The results suggest that the Korean government may want to consider alternative ways to control victimless crime with the limited law enforcement resources that they have available. This study also indicates that those hard line policies against victimless crimes share a common side effect such as The Balloon Effect. Ultimately, the findings calls for further discussion and more research on the victimless crime issue.
