Narratives of Compensated Dating of Girls in Hong Kong Using Routine Activity Theory: Results of a Focus Group Study of Guardians

This article presents public discourses on compensated dating of adolescent girls in Chinese society. Data are obtained from eight focus groups comprising 50 guardians at private, parochial, and public levels (i.e., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 2018-02, Vol.62 (2), p.360-382
Main Authors: Li, Jessica C. M., Cheung, Chau-kiu, Jia, Cindy X. S., Yu, Yolanda M. Y., Nguyen, Ping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity theory
Adolescent
Adolescent girls
Ambiguity
Commercialization
Consumers
Convergence
Customers
Discourses
Female
Females
Focus Groups
Girls
Guardians
Guardianship
Hong Kong
Humans
Ideology
Internet
Male
Narratives
Parents & parenting
Police
Public Opinion
Qualitative research
Routine activity theory
Sex Work
Social dynamics
Social relations
Social systems
Social workers
Technology
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Summary:This article presents public discourses on compensated dating of adolescent girls in Chinese society. Data are obtained from eight focus groups comprising 50 guardians at private, parochial, and public levels (i.e., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives). Qualitative data are used to demonstrate how the guardians conceptualize and contextualize compensated dating as an outcome of the dynamics of societal features. Social features such as contemporary ideologies, Internet technology advancement, commercialization of human relationships, and ambiguity between “right” and “wrong” motivate the service providers and customers of compensated dating, and accelerate their convergence and weakened levels of guardianship in society. This study is the first to connect the features of compensated dating of adolescent girls with recent societal changes using the routine activity approach. The findings confirm the application of the routine activity approach in the phenomenon of girls’ compensated dating, and also offer theoretical and practical implications.
ISSN:0306-624X
1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X16648960