Sexuality and sexual expression are core aspects of most clients' lives, yet most schools of social work fail to cover sexual development, leaving social workers uninformed about this essential area ...of human development. This is particularly the case when the sexual development of youths is concerned, as youth sexuality is often considered too controversial to explore. Considering a positive approach to youth sexuality that seeks to enhance youths' sexual development and promote their achievement of full sexual and reproductive rights, this article seeks to provide social workers with a resource they can use to enhance their understanding of youth sexual development and its applicability to social work practice. The two main theoretical orientations used to understand sexual identity development are covered as well as the research support for each. Following the explanation of theory is a discussion of how the two theoretical orientations can be integrated to form a more expansive base for the understanding of sexual identity development. A final section provides guidance on how an advanced understanding of youthful sexual identity development can enhance social work practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
This paper reviews several mid-level theories of sexuality on the theme of changes in sexuality, which is supported by evidence that changes in sexuality occur throughout time, during the course of ...relationships, and depending on the larger sociocultural context. The first section covers the theory of female erotic plasticity, which suggests that women on average exhibit greater variation in their sexual attitudes, desires, and behavior over the course of their lives than men. The second section addresses changes in passion over the course of romantic relationships. Changes in intimacy within a relationship over time are hypothesized to produce temporary spikes in passion and sexual behavior. The final section reviews the theory of sexual economics, which analyzes sexual behavior according to economic principles. This theory proposes that sex is a female resource that women exchange with men for other valued rewards. Changes in the sexual marketplace affect the negotiation of sex between the genders. Although these changes in sexuality are well-documented, neuroscience research is needed to shed light on how the brain enables, responds, and adjusts to these changes. Key words: theories of sexuality, theory of female erotic plasticity, passion, sexual behavior, sexual economics
The author compares theories of sexality and theories of aesthetics around 1968 and find out that there is a strong relation between them. So she states that there is not only a tendency of a ...politization of aesthetics at that time, but also a tendency to be sexually connotated or even sexualized.
The chapter opens with a brief overview of the early years of sexual science and sociology in Europe and America and then looks at more recent theoretical work in the sociology of sexual science. The ...interrelationship of macro and micro theory is presented and then there is a comparison of two macro studies of sexuality in the U.S. One of those studies is a national research study examining the way autonomy effects changes in premarital sexual permissiveness and the other is a descriptive national study with major findings on a wide variety of sexual behaviors. There is also discussion of two cross cultural studies—one proposes a theory linking sexuality to three basic structural aspects of human societies: power, ideology and kinship and tests this theory using a data base of 186 non industrial cultures. The other is a macro theoretical study of 43 cultures explaining the growth of post-industrial societies that stress well being and quality of life more than economic security. There is a brief coverage of three very recent theoretical articles each of which examined both biological and sociological theories of sexuality. The possibility of joint sociological and biological theories of human sexuality is discussed as part of an examination of Edward Wilson’s recent dual selection theory that stresses the importance of group selection over individual selection. The complexities of integrating sociological theories into Wilson’s gene/cultural interaction theory are analyzed.
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