Child sexuality

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Child sexuality is the sexual feelings, behaviors, and development of children.

Contents 1 Two basic views 2 Research 2.1 Early research 2.2 Current methodology of study 3 Behavior 3.1 Normative and non-normative behaviors 3.2 Symptomatic behaviors 4 Normative behavior 4.1 Early childhood 4.2 Early school age 4.3 Middle childhood 4.4 Pre-teen years 4.5 Sex play among siblings 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Two basic views

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Theories of sexual development may be broadly divided into two schools of thought:

1. The first emphasizes biology, which can be either encouraged or discouraged during childhood. Human sexual development is viewed as a primarily biological process that follows a model for healthy sexual development and is vulnerable to disturbance from or influence of a larger culture or by other means. This is the approach used most often in the medical study of child development.
2. The second emphasizes sexuality as a social construct, with child sexuality strongly influenced by the larger society. This latter school often uses the terms normative, or culturally appropriate, behavior and non-normative, or culturally inappropriate, behavior.^[1]

[edit] Research

[edit] Early research

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), in his 1905 work Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, outlined a theory of psychosexual development with five distinct phases: the oral stage (0 - 1.5 years), the anal stage (1.5 - 3.5 years), the phallic stage (3.5 – 6 years) which culminates in the resolution of the Oedipus conflict, The Latency Phase (6–12 years of age), and the genital, or adult, stage. Freud's basic thesis was that early sexuality in children is polymorphous, that strong incestuous drives develop, and that the child must harness or sublimate these drives in order to develop a healthy sexual identity as an adult.^{[citation needed]} Some of Freud's theories (such as penis envy) have been largely superseded, and many modern experts consider his work obsolete, and the core body of his work has never been entirely accepted by the scientific and medical communities.^{[citation needed]}

Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), in the Kinsey Reports (1948 and 1953), included research on the physical sexual response of children, including pre-pubescent children (though the main focus of the reports was adults). It has been stated that some of the data in his reports could not have been obtained without observation or participation in child sexual abuse, or through collaborations with child molesters.^[2] In 2000, Swedish researcher IngBeth Larsson noted that "It is quite common for references still to cite Alfred Kinsey", due to the paucity of subsequent large-scale studies of children's sexual behavior.^[1]

[edit] Current methodology of study

Empirical knowledge about child sexual behaviour is not usually gathered by direct interviews of children, (partly due to ethical considerations),^[1] but rather by:

• Observing children being treated for problematic behavior, such as use of force in sex play,^[3] often using dolls having genitals.^[4]
• Recollections by adults.^[5]
• Observation by caregivers.^[6]

[edit] Behavior

[edit] Normative and non-normative behaviors

Although there is variation between individuals, children generally are curious about their own bodies and those of others and engage in explorative sex play.^[7][8] However, the concept of child sexuality is fundamentally different from goal-driven adult sexual behavior, and observed bodily penetration and oral-genital contact (sometimes described as imitations of adult behaviors^[9]) are very uncommon,^[10] but are more common among those children who have been sexually abused.^[1]

Some activities are thought to be relatively harmless in certain cultures, Okami et al. (1997) found no association between childhood peer sexual experiences, including games involving masturbation, and later adjustment.^[11] This study did not distinguish between those children who were involved in penetrative activities (of which the sample was too small to be measured) and children who were involved in other activities defined as sex play ("theme sex games such as 'doctor,' 'house,' or 'mom and dad'").

[edit] Symptomatic behaviors

Children who have been the victim of child sexual abuse sometimes show over sexualized behavior,^[12][13] which may be defined as expressed behavior that is non-normative for the culture. Typical symptomatic behaviors may include excessive or public masturbation, coercing, manipulating or tricking other children into non-consensual or unwanted sexual activities, sometimes defined as "child-on-child sexual abuse". Sexualized behavior is thought to constitute the best indication that a child has been sexually abused, although some victims do not exhibit abnormal behavior.^[12]

Children who exhibit sexualized behavior may also have other behavioral problems, although factors other than sexual abuse may cause these problems.^[13] Other symptoms of child sexual abuse may include manifestations of post-traumatic stress in younger children; fear, aggression, and nightmares in young school-age children; and depression in older children.^[12]

[edit] Normative behavior

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.

The following sections describe typical culturally-normed behavior in most current developed Western societies.

[edit] Early childhood

The term early childhood may cover ages up to six, depending on the focus of the particular researcher or commentator. During this period:

• Children are curious about where babies come from.^[14]
• Children may explore other children's and adults' bodies out of curiosity.^[14]
• By age four, children may show significant attachment to the opposite-sex parent.^[14]
• Children begin to have a sense of modesty and of the differences between private and public behaviors.^[14]
• For some children, genital touching increases, especially when they are tired or upset.^[14]

A recent study in Sweden indicates that masturbation, in children of this age range, was observed by preschool staff, who observed incidence between 2% and 6% and reported by 14% of parents on a questionnaire that this was more common with boys than with girls. The observers generally "judged the masturbation to be associated with relaxation and desire on the part of the child." (pp. 17-19) ^[1]. Some researchers have suggested that child masturbation may be considered nonsexual if the child has not learned to associate it with sex.^[15]

[edit] Early school age

Early school age covers approximately ages five to seven.

Children become more aware of gender differences, and tend to choose same-sex friends and playmates, even disparaging the opposite sex. ^[16] Children may drop their close attachment to their opposite-sex parent and become more attached to their same-sex parent.^[14]

During this time, children, especially girls, show increased awareness of social norms regarding sex, nudity, and privacy.^[17] Children may use sexual terms to test adult reaction.^[14] "Bathroom humor" (jokes and conversation relating to excretory functions), present in earlier stages, continues.^[18]

Masturbation continues to be common.^[14][18]

[edit] Middle childhood

'Middle childhood' covers the ages from about six to nine, depending on the methodology and the behavior being studied,individual development varies considerably.

As this stage progresses, the choices of children picking same-sex friends becomes more marked and extending to disparagement of the opposite sex.^[19]

[edit] Pre-teen years

Planned Parenthood in the USA recommends that pre-teen children should learn, among other things: ^[20]

• The general stages of sexual development in young humans of each sex and the general timing of normal development (including emotional changes).
• That sex is not only for having babies and is also done for pleasure.
• Knowledge about aspects of sex in society, including prostitution, rape, and exploitative relationships.
• How to avoid pregnancy and prevent sexually transmitted infections.

[edit] Sex play among siblings

In a survey of 796 undergraduates, 15% of females and 10% of males reported some form of sexual experience involving a sibling; most of these fell short of actual intercourse. Approximately one quarter of these experiences were described as abusive or exploitative.^[21] Another study found the self-reported prevalence of preadolescent sibling sexual encounters as 5%.^[22]

[edit] See also

• Covert incest
• Developmental psychology
• Developmental stage theories
• Genital play
• Playing doctor
• Psychosexual development
• Puberty
• Sexualization

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Diana Gittins, Children's Sexuality: Why Do Adults Panic?. In The Child in Question. Macmillan, 1997. ISBN 0-333-51109-3.
• Ronald Goldman and Juliette Goldman, Children's Sexual Thinking: A Comparative Study of Children Aged Five to Fifteen Years in Australia, North America, Britain and Sweden. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982. ISBN 0-7100-0883-X..
• Stevi Jackson, Childhood and Sexuality. Blackwell Publishing, 1982. ISBN 0-631-12871-9.
• Susan M. Moore, Doreen A. Rosenthal, Sexuality in Adolescence. Routledge, 1993. ISBN 0-415-07528-9.
• Sharon Lamb (2002). The Secret Lives of Girls: What Good Girls Really Do—Sex Play, Aggression, and Their Guilt, Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-0107-8.
• Sharon Lamb (2006). Sex, Therapy, and Kids: Addressing their Concerns through Talk and Play. W.W. Norton.
• Sharon Lamb & Lyn Mikel Brown (2006). Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes. St. Martin's Press.
• Gil, E. & Cavanagh Johnson, T. (1993). Sexualized children – Assessment and treatment of sexualized children and children who molest. Launch Press. Cited in Larsson, 2000, op. cit.

[edit] External links

• American Psychological Association. (2007). APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls.

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