Kinsey Institute Series – serie

This wide-ranging volume presents an in-depth picture of adolescent sexuality and behaviour. As perhaps the most vital period in human development, adolescence is a time of complex, often difficult interactions between diverse influences. Here, nineteen scientists representing ten disciplines explore the biological, psychological, and cultural factors involved in the onset of puberty and its associated emotional changes. Patterns of adolescent sexual behavior are viewed in cross-cultural perspective, psychiatric disorders are considered, and trends in adolescent sexual activity, contraception, and pregnancy are described. Key legal and social dilemmas are also explained. This is the third volume in an outstanding series from the Kinsey Institute which has as its aim the study of topics relating to sex, gender, and reproduction that require an interdisciplinary approach. Previous volumes in the series include Homosexuality/Heterosexuality and Masculinity/Feminity.

In 1996, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction hosted an international meeting to address the issues of survey research into sexual behavior, driven predominantly by concern over HIV and AIDS and the need to establish the frequency of behaviors which might facilitate spread of the virus. The participants included representatives from most of the recent large scale surveys in the United States and Europe, and others with a wide range of research experience and methodological expertise. These are the papers from that conference.

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.