[Algernon]

I and some of my associates are planning to do some investigation of "the least of these" in society: the homeless, the down and out, the drug addicts, street prostitutes, etc. Obviously there is some overlap in these categories.

This project involves documenting life stories and broken dreams. We don't want to do this as part of any existing program. We compensate our interviewees in some manner. In the case of the homeless, we usually just talk over a meal (or several meals), and often the meals are considered to be compensation enough, although we do try to go farther and throw them several lifelines.

In the case of prostitutes, however, many of them have pimps who expect them to "earn" so a simple meal may not be enough. We would be willing to pay their usual fee for, say, an hour of their time, but there are some concerns. One is that if police witness the transaction, often handing over cash to someone in that line of work is "enough" (not really, but that's the way some cops see it) for an arrest. Also, if we talk to a great number of street prostitutes, and, by the questions we ask, end up causing many of them to leave that life and pursue their life purpose, we might end up the target of some angry and violent pimps.

The ideal solution would be to get a pimp and his "stable" to leave "the life" together, but we haven't figured out how to swing that.

Any insight would be appreciated, especially such from current or former participants in "the life".