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.