Synopses & Reviews
Approached with either "indifference" or "panic" in our culture, discussion of childhood sexuality remains submerged within political and moral debates that have historically impeded
Review
This book grew out of a Kinsey Institute workshop, at which 30 or so invited guests summarized their previously circulated papers on childhood sexuality. The volume includes both the papers and the discussion. Historian Philip Jenkins opens by emphasizing what he called the research pendulum on childhood sexuality: interest in the subject has swung several times between intense concern and research and virtual neglect. Clearly, childhood sexuality is now a popular topic. Essays address methodological issues and the importance of getting a wide variety of subjects. The two concluding papers summarize problems and prospects: Diane di Mauro outlines a pattern for future research but also emphasizes the importance of finding ways of disseminating the findings to the public and interested groups; Bancroft, the editor of the collection, reemphasizes the lack of knowledge about sexual development of children and urges that developing more effective methods of studying the subject should be a priority. The book as a whole takes a major step forward in opening up research and discussion on the subject. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper--division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.V. L. Bullough, emeritus, California State University, Northridge, Choice, July 2004
Review
"The book as a whole takes a major step forward in opening up research and discussion on the subject. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers." --Choice, July 2004 Indiana University Press Indiana University Press
Synopsis
Approached with either indifference or panic in our culture, discussion of childhood sexuality remains submerged within political and moral debates that have historically impeded its understanding. In contrast, Sexual Development in Childhood brings together respected researchers and clinicians to assess the current state of knowledge about childhood sexuality. The result is a comprehensive presentation of the latest research that is rational, balanced, and thorough.
The wide-ranging essays in Sexual Development in Childhood seek collectively to answer many of the most vital questions in the field of childhood development. What is childhood sexuality, and why should it be studied? How should it be measured, and what research methods are most useful? What are the current empirical results of research, and in what direction do these studies intend to go in the future? The essays offered in answer to these questions propose to help us understand both the normal range of sexual development in children and the consequences of abusive sexual experiences--objectives that should make this volume an essential resource for teachers, advocates, and social policy professionals as well as for researchers and clinicians.
About the Author
John Bancroft was trained in medicine at Cambridge University and in psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. He has been Director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and Professor of Psychiatry at Indiana University since May 1995. He is the author of Human Sexuality and Its Problems, and was founding editor of Annual Review of Sex Research.
Contributors:
Contributors are Matthew C. Aalsma, Douglas B. Alexander, J. Michael Bailey, John Bancroft, John E. Bates, Christopher R. Browning, Joseph A. Catania, John D. DeLamater, Diane diMauro, Kenneth A. Dodge, Anke A. Ehrhardt, David Finkelhor, J. Dennis Fortenberry, Suzanne G. Frayser, William N. Friedrich, Mariana Gatzeva, Amy R. Heard-Davison, Julia R. Heiman, Debra L. Herbenick, Gilbert Herdt, Janet Shibley Hyde, Erick Janssen, Philip Jenkins, Marjoke Laan, Edward O. Laumann, Jay H. Mayefsky, Carol McCord, Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg, Susan F. Newcomer, Sarah E. Oberlander, Lucia F. O'Sullivan, Jay P. Paul, Gregory S. Pettit, Elsie M. Pinkston, Lance M. Pollack, Jany Rademakers, Meredith A. Reynolds, Stephanie A. Sanders, Jennifer Lynne Steel, Cornelis J. Straver, Jeffry W. Thigpen, Deborah L. Tolman, Arnout van de Rijt, Johan Verhulst, Kenneth J. Zucker
David Finkelhor is Director of Crimes Against Children Research Center, Co-Director of the Family Research Laboratory, and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. He has been studying the problems of child victimization, child maltreatment, and family violence since 1977. He is well known for his conceptual and empirical work on the problem of child sexual abuse, reflected in publications such as Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse (Sage, 1986) and Nursery Crimes (Sage, 1988). He has also written about child homicide, missing and abducted children, children exposed to domestic and peer violence, and other forms of family violence. In his recent work, he has tried to unify and integrate knowledge about all the diverse forms of child victimization in a field he has termed Developmental Victimology. He is editor and author of 10 books and over 75 journal articles and chapters. He has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the US Department of Justice, and a variety of other sources. In 1994, he was given the Distinguished Child Abuse Professional Award by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
J. Dennis Fortenberry
Suzanne G. Frayser
William Friedrich
Cynthia Graham
Julia R. Heiman
Debra Herbenick
Gilbert Herdt
Janet Shibley Hyde
Erick Janssen
Philip Jenkins
Edward O. Laumann is George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. Since joining the University in 1973, he has acted as the editor of the American Journal of Sociology, chair of the department of sociology, dean of the division of social sciences, provost of the University of Chicago, and is currently director of the Ogburn Stouffer Center for Population and Social Organization. Professor Laumann's publications include Chicago Lawyers: The Structure of the Bar, The Organizational State: Social Choice in National Policy Domains, The Hollow Core: Interest Representation in National Policymaking, The Social Organization of Sexuality, Sex, Love, and Health in America, and Sex in the City.
Carol McCord
Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg
Susan Newcomer
Lucia O'Sullivan
Jay Paul
Elsie M. Pinkston,
Jany Rademakers
Meredith Reynolds
Stephanie Sanders
Jeffry W. Thigpen
Deborah L. Tolman is Senior Research Scientist and Director of the Gender and Sexuality Project at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College, where she is also an Associate Director. She is the author of Dilemmas of Desire: Adolescent Girls Talk about Sexuality (Harvard University Press, 2002). Her recent research activities include a longitudinal study of female and male adolescent sexual health, including positive as well as risky aspects of sexuality and relationships, and the impact of media on adolescent sexuality.
Kenneth J. Zucker
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1. The Historical Context
Watching the Research Pendulum
Part 2. Methodological Aspects
Methodological Issues Associated with Studies of Child Sexual Behavior
Using the Parents as Source of Information About the Child with Special Emphasis on the Sex Problems Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
Methodological Issues involved in Adult Recall of Childhood Sexual Experiences
Using Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (CASI) for Recall of Childhood Sexual Experiences
The Use of Meta-analysis in Understanding the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
Part 3. Some new studies of normal sexual development
Studies of Sexuality of Nonabused Children
Body Awareness and Physical Intimacy: An Exploratory Study
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
The Nature of Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Studies 50 Years Apart
Masturbation as a Marker of Sexual Development: Two Studies 50 Years Apart
Discussion Paper: Normative Sexual Development in Childhood and Adolescence
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
Antecedents of Sexual Activity at Ages 17 and 18 in a Community Sample Followed from Age 5
Part 4. Cross-Cultural Aspects
Cross-cultural aspects - the African American perspective
Cultural Dimensions of Childhood Sexuality in the United States
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
Part 5. Retrospective studies of effects of child sexual abuse on adolescent sexuality
Sexual Contact Between Children and Adults: A Life Course Perspective with Special Reference to Men
Childhood/Adolescent Sexual Coercion Among Men who have Sex with Men: Understanding Patterns of Sexual Behavior and Sexual Risk
Abusive Sexual Experiences Before Age 12 and Adolescent Sexual Behaviors
Discussion Paper
General discussion
Part 6. Theoretical models for mediating mechanisms
The Social Context of Adaptation to Childhood Sexual Maltreatment: A Life Course Perspective
Childhood Sexuality and Adult Sexual Relationships: How are they Connected by Data and by Theory?
Discussion Paper
Discussion Paper
General Discussion
Part 7. Towards a consensus
Conclusions from Research, Policy and Advocacy Perspectives
Conclusions from a Theoretical Perspective
General Discussion
Conference Participants
Index