ASA Style Citation

Selection of Sources

You will use a total of 8-10 academic sources. These sources will be sociological, 

criminological or socio-legal in origin. You are not to use any psychological or practitioner 

journals (such as Criminal Behavior or Corrections Today). You may use Government policies 

or agency reports to provide more context to your literature review but these will not be 

considered part of your 8-10 sources. If you are unsure about any source, please ask.

The purpose of this assignment is to:

1. hone your ability to research a topic of study
2. to be able to express how a topic has been examined before in an organized manner
3. to provide a view of what gaps still exist or future research directions

The literature review is an entry point into a topic you find interesting to give you a basis for 

developing your own line of inquiry. The lit review shows that you know the material that has 

come before and it also will situate how what you are interested in exploring is relevant to a 

given body of literature. In effect, you are trying to demonstrate not only that you are an 

expert of a given field but also attempt to expand the knowledge of given field.

Assignment Components

1. Can you find the relevant literature? This means you cannot simply google your topic and take the top few hits. You need to gain a sense of what is out there as a whole before you start to develop a narrow focus (i.e. “drugs” is a very broad topic). Once you have a narrow topic, select the 8-10 sources you will use. Not all sources are created equally (subtext: do not simply go for the shortest articles).
2. Can you analyze the information that you are reading? Do you understand the relevance of the study/argument and how it is important to your area of inquiry.
3. Can you synthesize the material and organize the readings into a cohesive whole? You cannot do a literature review that blindly summarizes 10articles back-to-back. A literature review not only demonstrates that you have engaged with the articles (as in #2 above) but also that you have engaged in a body of knowledge.
4. Can you develop future research directions? Your lit review will pose 2 research question or future lines of research and justification of why they are interesting and how they build off of the literature you have reviewed. This line of inquiry MUST be related to what you have done in the literature review (i.e. it can’t becoming out of left field for the reader). Think about the gaps that emerged throughout your analysis of research and the synthesis of the material.
5. Have a dialogue with the readings you have selected. Try to get a good understanding of each of the articles and start to see how they all fit together.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PAPER INCLUDING THE THESIS STATEMENT AND WHAT SHOULD BE ARGUED IN THE PAPER. 

“Youth participate in sex work for a multitude of reasons, mainly consisting of the need for financial support. An example of sex work committed by youth along with other groups of society is survival sex, referring to trading sexual activities for money and goods that fulfil basic human needs (Greene, Ennett, and Ringwalt 1999). Youth sex work has been defined in various terms, such as the world’s oldest profession, exploitation, trafficking, and sexual abuse (Winterdyk et al. 2022). While youth sex work has a historical significance in society, these negative terms have been used to describe it because of the increasing awareness of injustices that youth on the streets face. While contemporary society no longer criminalizes individuals who participate in sex work and allows for individuals to make a living the way they may choose to or due to a lack of options, youth sex work has been recognized as the sexual abuse of a young person (Winterdyk et al. 2022). There is a growing body of literature on the crime and victimization surrounding youth sex workers. This literature has largely been motivated by the increased visibility of young people engaged in sex work, as well as reports of violence and exploitation faced by these individuals.  While youth sex work is a prevailing issue with an important presence in history, this paper argues that youth sex work cannot occur without certain cultural conditions that must be eradicated in order to eliminate youth victimization through inclusion in the sex industry. This is illustrated through the culture of poverty and inequality that creates the conditions for youth to enter the sex industry, the silence and stigma surrounding sex work that prevents young people from making informed decisions, and finally, a society that thrives off exploitation and violence perpetuates the cycle of abuse and victimization that many youth experience while involved in sex work. Through an analysis and review of the literature surrounding the culture that allows youth sex work, this paper outlines future research directions needed surrounding ____ and ____.”

– come up with the two future implications and fill in the blanks above.

– the thesis statement is in bold

First heading: HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Use 1-2 academic sources in this part to discuss the historical significance of youth sex work and their victimization or criminalization. 

– This will be about 1 page long

Second Heading: Argument 1: POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

Use 2-3 academic sources in this part to discuss how poverty and inequality lead to youth sex work and why it is problematic. What does the literature say and why is that important? Do you disagree or agree? What are the pros and cons. What does this literature teach us?

– This will be about 2 pages long

Third Heading: Argument 2: SILENCE AND STIGMA

Use 2-3 academic sources in this part to discuss how the silence and stigma towards youth sex work leads to the victimization of youth and why it is problematic. What does the literature say and why is that important? Do you disagree or agree? What are the pros and cons. What does this literature teach us?

– This will be about 2 pages long

Fourth Heading: Argument 3: EXPLOITATION AND VIOLENCE

Use 2-3 academic sources in this part to discuss the exploitive and violent nature of youth sex work and how it leads to youth criminality and victimization and why it is problematic. What does the literature say and why is that important? Do you disagree or agree? What are the pros and cons. What does this literature teach us?

– This will be about 2 pages long

Fifth Heading: Future Implications

pose 2 research question or future lines of research and justification of why they are interesting and how they build off of the literature you have reviewed. This line of inquiry MUST be related to what you have done in the literature review (i.e. it can’t becoming out of left field for the reader). Think about the gaps that emerged throughout your analysis of research and the synthesis of the material.

You may incorporate up to 1 new academic source here.

– This may be up to 2 pages

THERE MUST BE A TOTAL OF 8-10 SOURCES USED.

Sources that are helpful and you may use are attached below. Please try to use some if not all of these sources, they count towards the 8-10 sources used. Additional research may be used. 

Try to stick to a Canadian perspective of research.