I am rather interested in the legalization in the Netherlands of what would be very controversial topics in the United States. I actually had two ideas, so I’ll write both of them up and see what I come up with. I'm not sure quite yet which topic I'll choose. Anyway, I split them up into the three different areas (idea, questions, and evidence) for easier reading.
Idea: I think it would be interesting to see how (or if) opinions of the legalization of euthanasia differ in regards to the main religious groups in the Netherlands: unaffiliated, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim.
Questions: Whether there are differing views among religious groups in the Netherlands having to do with the legalization of euthanasia.
Evidence: This would probably have a component of “let’s stalk the churches/mosques”. I would have to make sure that the places of worship I asked at were in various different parts of the Netherlands to make sure that the opinions I gathered were not just those of the local people and I’d want to ask random people in that area their opinions to contrast to the people that visited a place of worship. I could also ask random people in different areas of the country about their opinions.
Idea: Another idea is to do with prostitution. I’d like to compare the problems associated with prostitution present in the Netherlands to those present in Washington (or the U.S. in general, but that seems too broad for the scale of this project), mainly to see if there are any outstanding differences in the problems present and to see if these are in any way tied to the differences in policies in Washington and in the Netherlands. I know sexual assault is a major problem in the prostitute community in the U.S., and it seems like the Dutch’s legalizing of prostitution might have some effect on curtailing this problem. The offering of regular health checks in the Netherlands seems positive as well. However, there is also the issue of trafficking, which some say has increased with the legalization of prostitution in the Netherlands. Also, sex workers in the Netherlands are required to both register (which they can only do if they are legal in the mind of the Dutch government) and to pay taxes, something that many of the trade can not do or do not want to do. Personally, I think that legalization is a good way of handling things, at least, if the state/country is willing to spend the resources on making sure that regulations are followed. Although they are different, one can compare to the legalization of alcohol: when it wasn’t legal, consumption still took place, it just was a lot more covert and somewhat more dangerous at times. Of course, even now that alcohol is legalized, there are still problems, such as people who make moonshine or other illegal alcoholic drinks.
Questions: How much does Washington’s prostitution scene differ from that of the Dutch? Does it have anything to do with the differing legal and cultural positions on sex workers? What are the positives and negatives, comparatively, of these two systems in these areas?
Evidence: I would do research both in Washington and in the Netherlands. I’d probably get in contact with police stations and ask them some questions. I could ask sex workers in the Netherlands in the Red Light District, but I’m not sure whether I would be willing to try and find sex workers here to interview (which is a rather interesting distinction on my part…)
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8 comments:
Hey Haley,
I like your ideas. With prostitution, it would be awesome to compare it in Washington and Amsterdam. Washington may be too broad, maybe focus on a less diverse area like a city. Seattle and Amsterdam would be a good comparison, but what are your ideas on how to find out about prostitution that is not legal?
I agree with julia too, about the broadness of the comparison. Maybe you could think about specific street corners, or areas (i.e. red light district vs certain parts of aurora in seattle). And make a direct comparison based paritially on numbers (from the police in seattle, and some group in amsterdam), and partially through interviews or observations in those areas. I think it's a really cool idea though, pretty directed compared to me :).
Haley,
I was really intrigued by your euthanasia idea. While I think contrasting it with religious groups is a great, it also popped into my head about contrasting it with specific religious beliefs and values (i.e. views on death and the after life, family, etc). This would probably involve heavy research into the religions covered, but it certainly would be an interesting thing to explore.
Also, I was thinking of maybe dually doing a study on immigrant groups along with religious groups. There are a ton of immigration (community) centers in Amsterdam that you could use as a source for data and interviews. I think this would correlate with the religion since many groups would overlap, and with such a huge diversity of immigrant populations, it would give you a much bigger pool to sample.
Hi Haley!
Both of your ideas are really interesting! I agree with Julia about possibly focusing on prostitution just in Seattle and Amsterdam in order to narrow your focus. Also, it could be interesting to look into the new policy to reduce the number of windows in the red light district and if it was created for financial, health, or moral reasons etc. As for your euthanasia idea, I am excited to hear what you find (if that ends up being the topic you research). I think that approaching euthanasia from the viewpoint of different religious groups could be really cool, but I do have a suggestion. Many countries have large populations of the religious groups you mentioned, yet the Netherlands is the only one to legalize euthanasia. It would be interesting to look into How the legalization of euthanasia was possible in the Netherlands despite the same religious/moral oppostion that has prevented its legalization in many other countries. This could even be done through a comparitive analysis of the separation of church and state in Netherlands and the U.S. Is the netherlands better able to segregate law from religion than the U.S.? or is the law simply the result of a higher non-religious population? etc.. This sort of focus could be beneficial since you could get a really good start on your project here and then carry it over to our trip instead of having to rely mostly on interviews in amsterdam :)
Haley,
You always have great ideas. About prostitution, I think you will have a hard time finding professional reliable prostitutes here in the Seattle area. With the lack of legalization here in the United States, prostitutes aren't well accepted and tend to be doing it as their lack chance to making some money. From I have seen as I have driven down 99 before, most of the prostitutes look like they have major issues that could discourage them from giving you honest reliable answers to your questions. There have been documentary about prostitutes, many of them from "professional" prostitutes (if such a thing can exist). Otherwise you could also look to other aspects of the Adult Sex Business?
I really do like your ideas on euthanasia in the Netherlands. It would be a very interesting topic to look at the various religious group views in comparison to here in the US (I believe only Oregon has euthanasia, but I may be wrong). My biggest suggestion would be to also look at the government. Although the religious groups may agree or disagree with euthanasia, it is ultimately the government who decides if it is legal or not. In addition to the religious groups, I would also look at the factors behind why the government decided to make it legal and why in the US it is mainly illegal. This does seem like a lot of research would have to go into it, but it would yield some interesting results.
Hi, Haley. I was planning on focusing of the differences between legal and illegal prostitution in Amsterdam, but your thoughts on euthanasia now have my head spinning! What an interesting topic that really resonates with us here due to the controversy. In addition to visiting religious establishments, you could also possibly examine this through research at community centers.
Re: prostitution, I agree that it would seem weird to contact prostitutes here in Seattle due to the illegal nature and violations to privacy, etc., but I'm interesting in seeing what you come up with.
Hi Colleen!
Thanks for your comment...
I was just wondering if you would like to pair up for our research projects. I would be willing to do either prostitution or euthanasia...you seem interested in both. What would you prefer to focus on?
(And yes, I posted this twice...once to your blog and once to this one...because I was slow about asking you about this ^_^)
-Haley
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