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How people move from deviant to conventional lifestyles is an issue that has attracted considerable interest over the past few years. However, much of this work has focused on men desisting from crime. This book provides one of the first examinations of desistance which is centred on women and, more specifically, how they exit prostitution.

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1. Exiting Prostitution: The Debate 2. Stages of Exiting 3. Agencies, Policies and Practices 4. Barriers to Exiting 5. Comparing the ´Routes Out´ for Women Working on Street and Off Street 6. The Dynamics of Desistance 7. Exiting: Policy and Practice

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"Prostitution is an emotive subject and for too long warring ideologies have impeded necessary social scientific evidence gathering on the topic. This study transcends such debates, treating sex workers neither as offenders to be punished nor as helpless victims to be rescued. The result is a fascinating, important analysis of how women involved in prostitution are able to take control over their own lives." - Shadd Maruna, Dean, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University Newark, USA

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Author Roger Matthews: Roger Matthews is Professor of Criminology at London South Bank University, UK. He is Head of the Crime Reduction and Community Safety Research Group. He is sole author of Armed Robbery and Prostitution, Politics and Policy. He has also produced joint authored texts on community safety and edited a number of books on criminological theory, imprisonment and crime control.

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