Craigslist as a Source for Illicit Drugs: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Online drug markets and social media are facilitating the spread of information and sale of illicit substances. Online sites, such as Craigslist and Bluelight, underscore an emerging shift in contemporary drug consumerism. Case Descriptions: We report on two cases. Case 1 is a 42-year-old male with a history of heroin-use disorder, presented for an initial visit to an office-based buprenorphine program, and reported having acquired heroin from Craigslist. Despite several harrowing experiences, Craigslist remained Patient 1’s primary method of purchasing heroin during a 14-month period. Craigslist ads also redirected the patient to the web site Bluelight, which facilitated access to updated information on open-air drug markets in New York City. Case 2 is a 23-year-old male, who was admitted to inpatient detoxification and utilized the site for the sale of heroin in order to fund his own use of heroin. He sold heroin via Craigslist for 1 year until his arrest, noting undeterred advertising and largely uncomplicated transactions. He secured largely professionals buyers that purchased a steady quantity of heroin over extended periods of time. Discussion: Online drug marketplaces offer platforms to extend public health surveillance, harm reduction, and treatment entry strategies for internet users with substance-use disorders

“Straight-ish”: Constrained Agency and the Linguistic Constructions of Sexual Identities, Desires, and Practices among Men Seeking Men

Despite prolific research in language, identity, and sexuality (e.g. Bucholtz and Hall 2004, 2005; Cameron and Kulick 2003, 2005), less work is conducted online (cf. Mortensen 2010, Baker 2013, Rega 2013), and what research has been done tends to focus on established identity groups such as lesbians (Jones 2012), gay men (Manalansan 2003), and bisexuals (Thorne 2013) in predominantly urban areas (e.g. Leap 2005; Podesva 2007, 2011). Research on agency in linguistic anthropology and language, gender, and sexuality has also proliferated (e.g. Davies 1991; Ahearn 2001, 2011; Duranti 2004; Zimman 2010, 2014; Mills and Jones 2014), though the focus tends to be mostly on the role of language in constructing agency, and ways agency is claimed by minoritized groups. Constraints on agency as seen through multiple layers of identity, conflict, or construct are less directly discussed. This dissertation contributes to the increasing attention paid to agency in language, gender, and sexuality scholarship and linguistic anthropological research more broadly through what I call constrained agency, defined as the agentive manipulation of and negotiation around constraints, whether self-imposed or external, that limit the capacity of a subject or group of subjects to act.. By examining constraints on agency and the ways they are manipulated and negotiated, the analysis shows the complexities of sexual identity construction and a queering of sexuality that both exploits and challenges existing sexual identity categories.To explore this concept, I examine three sources of data using a multi-faceted, bottom-up approach to discourse analysis: 1. Television footage, media coverage, and comments on media articles of the 2015 TLC special My Husband’s Not Gay, which illustrates the creation of a novel sexual identity category despite constraints on agency within the LDS church; 2. Online personal advertisements of straight-identified men posting advertisements in a “men seeking men” forum to examine the linguistic negotiations used to balance a self-presentation as a straight male while simultaneously seeking same-sex partners; and 3. The role of linguistic and visual commodification of the self by employing tropes that idealize straightness and sexualized body parts as markers of desired masculinity in posts on the men seeking men forum of Craigslist.Together, each portion of the analysis works to construct an understanding of constrained agency and the linguistic and visual manipulation of and negotiation around myriad constraints, including social norms, individual desires, religious dogma, and ideological expectations of sexual identities. Through a nuanced exploration of the ways constraints work upon agents in addition to the ways agents manipulate those constraints for their own purposes, we can come to a deeper understanding on the role of language in identity construction and sexuality, and critique the common ideologies that essentialize sexual roles and identity categories and theoretical frameworks that guide our understanding of sexual selves

Network-assemblages of mediated sex: a post human study of the digital sexual practices of men who have sex with men

This thesis explores the translation of post human ontologies into a relational epistemological approach, taking the case study of men who have sex with men’s (MSM’s) digital sexual practices. It reports the findings from a connective ethnography, utilising a mixture of digital observation and insider-ethnographic accounts, to explore the inter-relationship between media as MSM engage in digital sexual practices. The main aim driving this study was to explore how social practices – in this case MSM’s digital sexual practices – could be researched differently, and what a different perspective brings to the study of such practices, and to the practices themselves. Though the literature exploring MSM’s use of digital media to engage in sexual activities is diverse, to date it has been dominated by anthropocentric methodologies and analyses e.g. through a focus on human meaning making and representation. Taking the example of MSM’s digital sexual practices therefore provided a body of literature that formed a counterpoint from which to explore the knowledge produced by different methodologies. The choice of post humanism as a way of enacting this difference – specifically the conceptual frameworks of assemblages (Deleuze and Guattari 2000, 2005) and networks (Latour 2005), or what I term “network-assemblages” – was therefore strategic. It countered the anthropocentricism dominating the field of MSM’s digital sexuality research, and also afforded the materiality of these practices greater agency in the research process. The contribution of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, it adds methodologically to the social sciences through the application of a post human ontology/epistemology to empirical research. By mapping linkages between venues as they form a network-assemblage, and by examining a single venue within this as a relational web of concepts, words, and things, it demonstrates different ways through which post human relational ontologies can be actualised in the study of phenomenon. Secondly this thesis contributes original insight into MSM’s digital sexual practices themselves. Specifically however, it explores the influence of capitalism on emergent forms of digital sexual enunciations, taking the case study of MSM’s commercial sex activities. Furthermore, it highlights the different ways in which sexuality is actualised within digital materiality; as aesthetic values, as sets of systems, as flows of words and images, and finally as lived territories

Human Trafficking as a Threat to the Security of Americans

Human trafficking is a transnational crime that allows traffickers to abuse victims physically and mentally, as well as stripping them of their human rights. The United Nations theory of human security and Mendelsohn\u27s theory of victimology provided a conceptual framework to examine the harm that people endure from human trafficking. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explain how human trafficking threatens the security of people and communities. Reviewing data from the Department of State concerning trafficking led to the investigation of youth exploitation, the use of technology in advancing the growth of human trafficking, the health concerns of victims of communities, and the possible uses of money made by traffickers. The primary guiding question for this study asked, How does human trafficking threaten the safety of people who live in communities and the security of those communities throughout the United States? Data were collected from articles and current information published by government agencies, news media, and non-governmental organizations. Data were analyzed after coding for themes and patterns using Braun and Clarke\u27s 6-step thematic analysis procedure. Findings indicate that victims live in fear, have lost their lives, are operating in plain sight but not recognized as victims, and endanger people living in local communities. The implications for positive social change include recommendations for collaboration among all stakeholders at the local level where traffickers operate in vulnerable communities, increase training of local law enforcement and healthcare personnel in identifying victims properly, and the development of awareness programs that reach people in local communities

Digital Desire: Commercial, Moral, and Political Economies of Sex Work and the Internet

ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the relationships among changing public attitudes toward sexuality, the rise of the Internet as a site of commercial sex production and consumption, and public opinion toward and media portrayals of sex workers. In light of increased cultural acceptance of changing sexual practices and identities, I ask, has there been increased acceptance of commercial sex work and sex workers as measured in public opinion, sex workers’ experiences, popular films, and news media portrayals? In order to answer this question, I reviewed and interacted with more than 100 sex work bloggers on Tumblr.com, and conducted interviews with 36 sex workers, to determine the effect of the Internet on their work and their experience of acceptance or stigmatization in their personal and professional lives; attended two commercial sex industry conferences to observe the impact of the Internet on different aspects of the industry; conducted content analysis of the top 50 films annually from 1990-2013 to examine changes in the depictions of sex workers from the beginning of the Digital Age to the present; and analyzed 353 English-language newspaper articles on prostitution and sex work during the period October 21, 2012-December 5, 2012 to determine how sex work was portrayed in the news – as criminal or commercial activity. I found that sex work and sex workers remain deeply stigmatized in American society. This is despite sex worker activism and increased availability of pornography and other commercial sex products. I conclude that the persistent stigmatization of the commercial sex industry and those who work within it results from occupational structures within the commercial sex industry, continued criminalization of sex work, the entertainment industry’s negative depiction of sex workers, and news media reports of sex workers as criminals, especially the conflation of “sex trafficking” and sex work

Linguistic expression and perception of personality in online dating texts and their effect on attraction

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Online daters report difficulties, frustration and anxiety in conveying their desired impression of themselves and from their lack of ability in perceiving another dater’s personality accurately. There is a lack of research on how expression of personality traits in profiles impacts on perception and on assessments of attractiveness. This thesis aims to fill this gap by exploring the expression and perception of personality traits in online dating profile texts, and to examine whether textually expressed personality affects attractiveness. The first two studies employed a linguistic and content analysis approach to determine how personality was expressed in dating profiles across different dating platforms and a comparison creative story text. There was considerable variation in expression indicating that language may not be a reliable indicator of personality. A lens model approach, using Funder’s Realistic Accuracy Model, was taken in the third study where accuracy of personality perception was examined in two contexts to determine whether dating profiles provided more salient trait-related cues to personality. The linguistic and content cues utilised by judges in making personality assessments were investigated. While some accuracy of perception was possible for emotional stability in online dating profiles, it was context dependent and unreliable, and few cues were utilised accurately. The effects of actual and perceived personality, and similarity of personality, on attractiveness were investigated and had not been examined previously in this context. This research shows that actual traits and similarity only affect attraction when it is perceivable, whereas perceived traits and similarity can affect attraction without accurate perception. This thesis illustrates the complexity of accuracy of interpersonal perception in text, and how context drives a considerable amount of the variation in achievement of accuracy. Additionally, the results offer some practical implications for online daters

Intelligible Variability: Narratives of Male Sex Work in London Ontario Canada

Compared to women, there is limited knowledge concerning men working in the sex trade in Canada. London (Ontario) in particular has been the epicentre of campaigns and lobbying against the sex industry for its alleged exploitation of women. In this environment, most policymakers and service providers argue that men-who-sell-sex are non-existent or are so rare that they are not worth consideration, if they are acknowledged in the first place. Yet other gendered configurations of the sex industry do exist. Given the city’s lack of comprehensive inquiry, this dissertation sets about finding these men and documenting their life histories. This allows for the differentiation of what may be integral to the industry from what is specifically gendered. From 2015 through 2017, semi-structured and online interviews with 43 men were recorded. The life histories and accounts produced followed linear plots, separated into phases; these offered insight into their childhoods, entrance-into-the-trade, and the fundamentals of sex work. Various details of family life, issues of class, coming-out, sexual abuse, mental health, disability, homelessness, criminality, and addiction weaved throughout different stories. Accounts of choice, female clients, intimacy, friendship, and the non-sexual contradicted archetypes and popular discourse on the nature of the industry. Mapping the complex relationships men had with social classifications confirms that those in the sex trade face a multitude of stigmas. The subjugation of certain masculinities by hegemonic norms was a major component of this. Accounting for this vulnerability thus challenges assumptions that men are automatically in positions of power based on their gender. While being a man in any one social context made certain things more or less likely to happen, gender affected the interpretations men and others had for their actions. Feelings of oppression were ambiguous; structural vulnerabilities, choice, and need influenced the ways a man felt empowered or powerless. Regardless of sexuality, hegemonic norms of masculinity also served as tools to counter feminized tropes of helplessness and maintain a sense of dignity. Instead of compartmentalizing the identities and roles of sex workers and dehumanizing them, privileging their stories gave rare insight into their lives and the lives of their clients, proving that seamless and simplistic visions of harm and privilege have been inadequate, where one-size does not fit all