Illicit and Illegal

This book is about the surprisingly neglected area of the regulation of sex. It describes and discusses the ways in which various sexual activities are controlled, regulated and made illegal and/or deviant and illicit. Its primary focus is upon the multiple and complex social controls (laws, statutory regulations, professional/occupational codes, normative frameworks) constructing, constituting and shaping how we 'do' sex, and deals with sex that is both illicit (deviant, illegal) and illegal (criminal, offending). The book challenges the idea that early twenty-first century Britain is increasingly sexually 'liberated' by suggesting that this very 'openness' provides the conditions in which all sexual activities have become increasingly subject to regulation and control. By examining the policies and laws about various sexually activities, and the social conditions underpinning them, alongside existing research and theoretical literature the authors have provided an accessible text on the sociology of sex.

1. Introduction: Moral Authoritarianism and Official and Quasi-Official Discourses of Sex Part I: Deconstructing Official Discourse of Sexual Violence 2. Destructive Sex: Sexual Autonomy, Victimhood and the Problem of Men 3. Threatening Sex: Protection, Communities and Childhood 4. Commercial Sex: Consent, Coercion and Exploitation Part 2: Deconstructing Quasi-Official Discourse of Sexual Infractions 5. Nuisance Sex: Harassment, Collusion and Decency 6. Professional Sex: Ethics, Trust and Moral Guardianship 7. Transgressive and Digital Sex: Margins, Edges and Limitless Victims 8. Conclusion: Victims, Perpetrators and the New Sexual Enterprise

Joanna Phoenix is Deputy Head of the Social Sciences and Health Faculty, Social and Reader in Criminology at the University of Durham. Her current research interests focus on youth justice, in particular the social, political, economic and ideological context. Sarah Oerton is Head of Sociology at the University of Glamorgan. Her areas of research interest include sex and sexuality (including civil partnerships), sociology of the body, professional ethics, and professional boundaries.