Corey Shdaimah, Shelly Wiechelt, and co-author Chrysanthi Leon’s Book Featured at the Annual Law & Society Meetings
Corey Shdaimah’s book, co-authored with Shelly Wiechelt, Associate Dean and Chair of UMBC Social Work Baccalaureate Program, and Chrysanthi Leon, University of Delaware Professor of Criminology and Sociology, was featured in an Author Meets Reader Session at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association in Denver on June 8.
The distinguished panel of interdisciplinary experts in the field of sex work policy and problem solving courts from the US and Canada discussed "The Compassionate Court? Support, Surveillance, and Survival in Prostitution Diversion Programs," (Temple University Press, 2023). The book draws on over a decade of interviews and observations that explore two prostitution diversion programs (PDPs) that offer to "rehabilitate" people arrested for street-based sex work as an alternative to incarceration.
This rich, longitudinal study reveals how participants and professionals perceive court-affiliated PDPs, clients, and staff, and how their own perspectives on prostitution courts, diversion programs, and criminalization of sex work changed against a changing political and social context.
Discussants emphasized the innovative deeply empathetic portrayal of both program participants and social service and court-affiliated actors. They praised the authors’ ability to convey the complexity of the issues due to their long-term engagement and reflective approach, noting their unique contribution to the field as mature researchers who combine insights from clinical practice, critical policy studies, and feminist research.
Professor Shdaimah, Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice, also chaired a panel, "Regulating Sex Work Through Online and Print Media."