Review Article

Adolescence and sex education: Socio-cultural and psycho-theoretical perspectives

Frank Lamadoku Attila 1 * , Felicia Owusu 1 , Kingsley Agyei-Sarpong 1 2 , Hagar Donkoh 1
More Detail
1 Counselling Center, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, GHANA2 Temale Technical University, Tamale, GHANA* Corresponding Author
Mediterranean Journal of Social & Behavioral Research, 7(1), February 2023, 43-49, https://doi.org/10.30935/mjosbr/12801
Submitted: 09 August 2022, Published: 06 January 2023
OPEN ACCESS   1845 Views   3007 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Sex education has become an important issue in human development and attracts a lot of debates day in and day out. This article situated itself on the socio-cultural perspective of adolescent sex education espousing permissive and restrictive social-cultural dimensions. The article again confined itself to psycho-theoretical perspectives by dwelling on Freud’s psychosexual theory, Eriksson’s psychosocial theory, Skinner’s operant conditioning, as well as Bandura’s social learning theory. All theories are comprehensively reviewed based on their views on adolescence and sex education. Psychosexual theory views sex education as a construct that can be nurtured in the early years of life, psychosocial theory views sex education as a construct that can occur through societal interactions, operant conditioning considers sex education as capable based on behavioral consequences, and social learning views sex education as something that can be modeled.
Keywords: sex education, adolescence, socio-cultural

CITATION (APA)

Attila, F. L., Owusu, F., Agyei-Sarpong, K., & Donkoh, H. (2023). Adolescence and sex education: Socio-cultural and psycho-theoretical perspectives. Mediterranean Journal of Social & Behavioral Research, 7(1), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.30935/mjosbr/12801

REFERENCES

  1. Abdelghaffar, E. A., & Siham, B. (2019). Perspectives of adolescents, parents, and teachers on barriers and facilitators of physical activity among school-age adolescents: A qualitative analysis. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 24(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-019-0775-y
  2. Abdul Hamid, S. H., Fallon, D., & Callery, P. (2020). Influence of religion on healthcare professionals’ beliefs toward teenage sexual practices in Malaysia. Makara Journal of Health Research, 24(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.7454/msk.v24i1.1175
  3. Al-Muneef, M., Al-Quaiz, A. M., & A. Kazi, A. (2013). Determinants of sexual health knowledge in adolescent girls in Riyadh-Saudi Arabian schools: A cross-sectional study. BMC Women’s Health, 13(19), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-13-19
  4. Andersen, B. L., & Cyranowski, J. M. (1994). Women’s sexual self-schema. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 67(6), 1079-1100. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1079
  5. Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
  6. Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. General Learning Press.
  7. Bandura, A. (1982). Social foundations of thought and action. Prentice-Hall.
  8. Bandura, A., & Walters, R. (1963). Social learning and personality development. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
  9. Bartels, R. M., & Beech, A. R. (2016). Theories of deviant sexual fantasy. In D. P. Boer (Ed.), The Wiley Handbook on the Theories, Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Offending (pp. 165-186). John Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd.
  10. Bee, H. L. (1992). The developing child. Harper Collins.
  11. Bennett, C., Harden, J., & Anstey, S. (2018). Fathers as sexuality educators: Aspirations and realities. An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Sex Education, 18(1), 74-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2017.1390449
  12. Cabezas, A. L. (2018). Discourses of prostitution: The case of Cuba. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315865768-7
  13. Davidson, M. R. (2012). A nurse’s guide to mental health in women. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826171146
  14. Delamater, A. M., Jacobson, A. M., Anderson, B., Cox, D., Fisher, L., Lustman, P., & Wysocki, T. (2000). Psychosocial therapies in diabetes: Report of the psychosocial therapies working group. Diabetes Care, 24, 1286-1292. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.24.7.1286
  15. Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. W W Norton & Co.
  16. Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle: Selected papers. Psychological Issues, 1, 1-171.
  17. Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society. Norton.
  18. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. Norton & Co.
  19. Exalto, J. (2019). Sexual hygiene: Dutch reflections on the adolescent body in the early twentieth century. History of Education, 48(4), 516-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2019.1576235
  20. Felix, S. W. (2019). Two problems of language acquisition: On the interaction of universal grammar and language growth. De Gruyter Mouton.
  21. Ferster, C. B., & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. Appleton-Century-Crofts. https://doi.org/10.1037/10627-000
  22. Freud, S. (1925). Psychosexual theory of development. Boundless Psychology. https://www.boundless.com
  23. Gross, F. L. (1987). Introducing Erik Erikson: An invitation to his thinking. University Press of America.
  24. Herold, E. S., & Milhausen, R. R., (2002). Reconceptualizing the sexual double standard. Journal of Sex Research, 13(2), 63-83. https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v13n02_05
  25. Johnson, A., & Johnston, E. (2020). Studying development in mid-20th century America. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.526
  26. Joyal, C. C. (2014). How anomalous are paraphilic interests? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43(7), 1241-1243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0325-z
  27. Kearney, M. S. (2008). Teen pregnancy prevention as an anti-poverty intervention: A review of the evidence.
  28. Leung, H., Shek, D. T., Leung, E., & Shek, E. Y. (2019). Development of contextually-relevant sexuality education: Lessons from a comprehensive review of adolescent sexuality education across cultures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(4), 621. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040621
  29. McGuire, R. J., Carlisle, J. M., & Young, B. G. (1965). Sexual deviations as conditioned behavior: A hypothesis. Behavior Research and Therapy, 2, 185-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(64)90014-2
  30. McLeod, S. A. (2013). Erik Erikson. www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
  31. McLeod, S. A. (2015). Skinner-operant conditioning. https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
  32. Mead, M. (1928). Introduction. Coming of age in Samoa. William Morrow Paper Backs.
  33. Metusela, C., Ussher, J., Perz, J., Hawkey, A., Morrow, M., Narchal, R., Estoesta, J., & Monteiro, M. (2017). “In my culture, we don’t know anything about that”: Sexual and reproductive health of migrant and refugee women. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 24(6), 836-845. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-017-9662-3
  34. Muuss, R. E. (1975). Theories of adolescence. Random House.
  35. Nasheeda, A., Abdullah, H. B., Krauss, S. E., & Ahmed, N. B. (2019). A narrative systematic review of life skills education: effectiveness, research gaps and priorities. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 24(3), 362-379. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2018.1479278
  36. Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2014). Abnormal psychology. McGraw-Hill.
  37. Pierce, W. D., & Cheney, C. D. (2004). Behavior analysis and learning. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410608987
  38. Reiss, I. L. (1960). Premarital sexual standards in America. The Free Press.
  39. Rios-González, O., Peña Axt, J. C., Duque Sánchez, E., & De Botton Fernández, L. (2018). The language of ethics and double standards in the affective and sexual socialization of youth. Communicative acts in the family environment as protective or risk factors of intimate partner violence. Frontiers in Sociology, 3, 19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2018.00019
  40. Rosenthal, D. A., & Feldman, S. S., (1999). The importance of importance: Adolescents’ perceptions of parental communication about sexuality. Journal of Adolescence, 22(6), 835-851. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0279
  41. Santelli, J. S. (1999). Sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, and adolescent health promotion. Adolescent Medicine State of the Art Reviews, 10(1), 87-108.
  42. Schneewind, K. A. (2001). Socialization and education: Theoretical perspectives. In N. J. Smelser, & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 861-865). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02328-7
  43. Steinberg, L., Bornstein, M. H., & Vandell, D. L. (2010). Life-span development: infancy through adulthood. Cengage Learning.
  44. Thomas, F., & Aggleton, P. (2016). School-based sex and relationships education: Current knowledge and emerging themes. In V. Sundaram, & H. Sauntson (Eds.), Global perspectives and key debates in sex and relationships education: Addressing issues of gender, sexuality, plurality and power (pp. 13-29). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500229_2
  45. Tupper, K, W. (2014). Sex, drugs and the honour roll: The perennial challenges of addressing moral purity issues in schools. Critical Public Health, 24(2), 115-131.
  46. Walker, K., & Sleath, E. (2017). A systematic review of the current knowledge regarding revenge pornography and non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit media. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36, 9-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.06.010
  47. Wilder, E. J. (2003). The theoretical basis for the life model. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Theoretical-Basis-for-the-Life-Model-Wilder/b1adbc33f6b2ef0ec42a670dbc106acdbe6d1a74
  48. Zhou, J. N., Hofman, M. A., Gooren, L. J. G. & Swaab, D. F. (1995). A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality. Nature, 378(6552), 68-70. https://doi.org/10.1038/378068a0