Adolescence is a period of physical, emotional, and social development that represents the transition from childhood toward adulthood. Adolescents therefore experience intense and vigorous physical changes and an increased awareness of their own sexuality. They are also in a physical and mental period of preparation to become a social being, and have a natural curiosity about sexual matters. To satisfy their sexual curiosity, they obtain sexual information mostly from their friends and from lascivious media, especially websites on the internet. Consequently, they obtain incorrect knowledge and distorted sexual views. Moreover, adolescents in Korea, especially in the middle period of adolescence, are much more tolerant and open about many aspects of sexual attitudes and behaviour. They now engage in sexual relations at an earlier age as a result of the weakening of sexual morals and materialism in Korean society. They are exposed to sexual risks such as unwanted pregnancy, abortion, STDs, and HIV/Aids. It is therefore important for adolescents to be educated on sexual matters, and to protect themselves against sexual risks. They should have accurate sexual knowledge to make critical sexual decisions, and to form positive sexual attitudes to enhance sexual behaviour. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sexual knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality of adolescents in Korea, so as to compile a comprehensive programme in sexuality education and to evaluate the influence of the comprehensive sexuality education programme on the knowledge and attitudes of adolescents in Korea. The Randomized Solomon four-group design was used as the method of this study. The selected sample consisted of two groups for the experimental group and two groups for the control group, from two randomly selected co-educated middle schools in Youngdo-gu in Busan, Korea. The experimental group was exposed to the sexuality education programme, while the control group received reading matter similar in content to the sexuality education programme, to reduce the Hawthorne effect. A questionnaire was compiled by the researcher to evaluate adolescents' knowledge of and attitudes towards sexuality. A comprehensive sexuality education programme was compiled based on the literature. The sexuality education programme consisted of fifteen sessions of 45 minutes each. A session was presented each week for fifteen consecutive weeks. A questionnaire was used to collect data on two occasions: one week before the programme was presented and again two weeks after the end of the programme. The data was analysed by means of a frequency analysis, t-tests and correlations by using the SPSS/PC Window 10.0 programme. The results of the research indicated that the effect of the sexuality education programme obviously increased the sexual knowledge adolescents and brought about a positive change in their sexual attitudes. It is therefore recommended that the sexuality education programme for adolescents with its comprehensive content should be presented in an interactive style to learners by a skilful sexuality education educator. The recommendations of this study focus on adolescents as the object of education, the sexuality education programme, the educator and general recommendations. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Nursing))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The scientific study of sex has developed significantly since the inception of psychophysiological methods to assess sexual arousal. Sexual psychophysiology involves assessing the physiological activation of the sexual response system, in addition to mental, behavioral, and emotional processes or experiences (Rosen & Beck, 1988). Measures of sexual arousal are reviewed in Chapter One. Chapter Two describes a study testing the validity of the most commonly used measure of genital arousal in women, vaginal photoplethysmography. Results indicate that vaginal photoplethysmography is sensitive to sexual arousal only, and that there are important sex differences in patterns of physiological arousal to sexual stimuli. Directions for future research are discussed. / x, 176 leaves ; 29 cm.

Despite the increased attention devoted to sexual aggression among young people in the international scientific literature, Brazil has little research on the subject exclusively among this group. There is evidence that sexual aggression and victimization may start early. Identifying the magnitude and factors that increase the chance for the onset and persistence of sexual victimization are the first steps for prevention efforts among this group. Using both cross-sectional and prospective analyses, this study examined the prevalence of, and vulnerability factors for sexual aggression and victimization in female and male college students (N = 742; M = 20.1 years) in Brazil, of whom a subgroup (n = 354) took part in two measurements six months apart. At Time 1, a Portuguese version of the Short Form of the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss et al., 2007) was administered to collect information from men and women as both victims and perpetrators of sexual aggression since the age of 14. The students were also asked to provide information on their cognitive representations (sexual scripts) of a consensual sexual encounter, their actual sexual behavior, use of pornography, and experiences of child abuse. At Time 2, the same items from the SES were presented again to assess the incidence of sexual aggression in the 6-month period since T1. The overall prevalence rate of victimization was 27% among men and 29% among women. In contrast, perpetration rates were significantly higher among men (33.7%) than among women (3%). Confirming the hypotheses, cognitive (i.e., risky sexual scripts, normative beliefs), behavioral (i.e., pornography use, sexual behavior patterns) and biographical (i.e., childhood abuse) risk factors were linked to male sexual aggression and to male and female victimization both cross-sectionally and longitudinally with the path models analyses demonstrating good fit with the data. The results supported: a) the role of the sexual script for a first consensual sexual encounter as an underlying factor of real sexual behavior and sexual victimization or perpetration; b) the role of pornography as “inputs” for sexual scripts, increasing indirectly the risk for victimization, and directly and indirectly the risk for perpetration; c) the direct and indirect link between childhood experiences of (sexual) abuse and male sexual aggression and victimization mediated by sexual behavior; and d) the direct link between child sexual abuse and sexual victimization among women. Few gender differences were found in the victimization model. The findings challenge societal beliefs that sexual aggression is restricted to groups with low socio-economic status and that men are unlikely to be sexually coerced. The disparity between male victimization and female perpetration rates is discussed based on traditional gender roles in Brazil. This study is also the first prospective investigation of risk factors for sexual aggression and victimization in Brazil, demonstrating the role of behavioral, cognitive and biographical factors that increase the vulnerability among college students. / Apesar do aumento da atenção dedicada ao fenômeno da agressão sexual entre jovens na literatura científica internacional, o Brasil tem pouca pesquisa no assunto exclusivamente neste grupo. Há evidências de que a agressão e vitimização sexual podem começar precocemente. A identificação da magnitude e dos fatores que aumentam a chance do surgimento e persistência de agressão sexual são os primeiros passos para a prevenção do problema. Usando delineamento transversal e prospectivo, o presente estudo investigou a prevalência e fatores de risco para a agressão e vitimização sexual em estudantes universitários de ambos os sexos (N = 742; M = 20,1 anos) no Brasil, dos quais um subgrupo (n = 354) participou em dois momentos separados por um intervalo de seis meses. Na primeira coleta (T1), uma versão em Português de Short Form of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) (Koss et al. / 2007) foi aplicada para obter informações sobre experiências de vitimização e agressão sexual em homens e mulheres desde os 14 anos de idade. Os estudantes também foram convidados a fornecer informações sobre suas representações cognitivas de um encontro sexual consensual (scripts sexuais), seu comportamento sexual real, o uso de pornografia e experiências de abuso na infância. Na segunda coleta (T2), os mesmos itens de SES foram apresentados para investigar a incidência de agressão sexual no período de seis meses desde T1. Os resultados mostraram que a taxa de prevalência de vitimização foi de 27% entre os homens e 29% entre as mulheres. Em contraste, as taxas de perpetração foram significativamente maiores entre os homens (33,7%) do que entre as mulheres (3%). Confirmando as hipóteses, variáveis cognitivas (scripts sexuais e aceitação normativa de risco), comportamentais (uso da pornografia e padrões de comportamento sexual) e biográficas (história de abuso na infância) constituíram fatores de risco para agressão sexual masculina e vitimização sexual feminina e masculina, tanto transversal quanto prospectivamente. Os resultados demonstram: a) o papel dos scripts sexuais como um fator subjacente ao comportamento sexual real e à vitimização ou perpetração sexual; b) o papel da pornografia como "input" para os scripts sexuais, aumentando, direta e indiretamente, o risco de perpetração e, indiretamente, o risco para vitimização; c) a ligação direta e indireta entre as experiências de abuso (sexual) infantil na agressão e vitimização sexual masculina mediada pelo comportamento sexual e d) a ligação direta entre o abuso sexual infantil e vitimização sexual entre as mulheres. Poucas diferenças de gênero foram encontradas no modelo de vitimização. Os resultados desafiam crenças de que a agressão sexual é restrita a grupos com baixo nível sócio-econômico e que homens não estão susceptíveis à coerção sexual. A disparidade entre as taxas de vitimização masculina e perpetração feminina é discutida com base nos papéis tradicionais de gênero no Brasil. Este estudo é o primeiro com delineamento prospectivo a investigar o papel de fatores comportamentais, cognitivos e biográficos na etiologia da agressão sexual no Brasil.

There have been few investigations of sexual coercion in relationships. I conducted several studies to develop a measure of partner sexual coercion and to identify its proximate causes and the relevant personal characteristics of male perpetrators. Community participants’ self-reported propensity to engage in various tactics to obtain sex from a reluctant partner clustered into a subscale relating to sexual coercion and a subscale pertaining to sexual coaxing. These subscales had excellent internal reliability, construct validity, criterion validity, and were used to test predictions in subsequent studies. I tested the application of Lalumière et al.’s (2005) three-path model for the development of sexually coercive behavior in general to sexual coercion in relationships. Self-reported interest in partner sexual coercion in a community sample was significantly related to psychopathy, but not age or neurodeveopmental insults. I confirmed the importance of psychopathy in this model by comparing men who raped their partner to other sex offender groups. Another characteristic of sex offenders, sexual deviance, was tested for its application to partner rapists. Unlike non-partner rapists, men who raped their partner exhibited low sexual arousal to rape scenarios, similar to community controls. Cuckoldry risk, a hypothesized proximate cause of partner sexual coercion, was also tested. Direct cues to cuckoldry risk were related to self-reported propensity for partner sexual coercion, whereas indirect cues of cuckoldry risk were related to sexual coaxing. In a forensic sample, most partner rapists had experienced cuckoldry risk prior to committing their offense, and they experienced more cuckoldry risk events than partner assaulters. A necessary condition of the cuckoldry risk hypothesis is that men should exhibit sexual arousal to cues signaling cuckoldry risk. Men in a community sample exhibited as much sexual arousal to stories depicting partner infidelity as they did to stories depicting consenting sex with their partners, and men who were currently in relationships showed greater arousal to stories of infidelity than consenting sex. Taken together, my results suggest psychopathy and cuckoldry risk are important contributors to partner sexual coercion. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-16 11:13:04.26

Few research studies have examined female sexual offending. Furthermore, most of what we know about sexual offending is based on male perpetrators. Our conceptions of female criminals who act outside their designated sexual scripts are formed by prevailing stereotypes of femininity. This research expands the available literature in the field of sexual offending, while examining how women are constituted when it comes to female child sexual offending. I conduct a critical discourse analysis of court transcripts and electronic news articles of cases involving women as child sexual perpetrators. Three criminal cases are examined from Wisconsin, U.S. The goal is to examine whether, and through what processes, traditional sexual scripts are discursively reproduced in court proceedings and media reporting of female sexual offending. Two cases reveal that women who adhere to their expected sexual scripts despite having committed a sexual offense receive sympathetic responses from legal officials and news journalists. The legal and media responses also ensure these women are able to continue their expected roles as women during and following sentencing. On the other hand, one case reveals that women who overtly contravene their expected gender scripts are legally and morally condemned. The call for strict punishment centred upon removing the female offender’s ability to participate in motherhood, because of the offender’s contravention of expected gender scripts by sexually offending against her own children. Furthermore, the male co-offender in this latter case was not deemed to have contravened his sexual scripts, resulting in less social condemnation. Overall, this thesis demonstrates discursive maneuvering that occurs in female sexual offender cases, in which legal officials and news journalists justify offenses based on prevailing notions of femininity. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-18 15:35:49.686

Unlike men, women’s genital arousal is category-nonspecific with respect to sexual orientation, such that their genital responses do not differentiate stimuli by gender. A possible explanation for women’s nonspecific sexual response is the inclusion of women at different phases of the menstrual cycle or women using hormonal contraceptives in sexual psychophysiology research, which may be obscuring a specificity effect. The present study employs the ovulatory-shift hypothesis – used to explain a shift in women’s preferences for masculine traits during peak fertility – as an explanatory model for women’s nonspecific sexual arousal. Twenty-nine naturally-cycling women were tested at two points in their menstrual cycles (follicular and luteal) to determine the role of hormonal variation, as estimated by fertility status, on the specificity of genital (using vaginal photoplethysmograph) and subjective sexual arousal. Cycle phase at the time of first testing was counterbalanced; however, no effect of order was observed. Inconsistent with the ovulatory-shift model, the predicted mid-cycle shift in preferences for masculinity or sexual activity at peak fertility was not obtained. Category-specificity of genital arousal did not increase during the follicular phase. A statistical trend was observed for higher genital arousal to couple sex stimuli during the follicular phase compared to the luteal phase, suggesting that women’s genital arousal may be sensitive to fertility status with respect to sexual activity (specifically, couple sex), but not gender. Subjective arousal was not influenced by fertility status. This study is the first to provide evidence that women’s genital arousal may be influenced by the probability of conception. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-29 08:51:26.973

It is estimated that between 20-40% of women encounter sexual harassment at a university. However, university grievance offices report that less than one percent of the student population, whether female or male, complains. Sexual harassment research indicates that a large number of people who experience sexual harassment do not label it as such and therefore, do not report it. The effectiveness of the objective sexual harassment definition in describing the experiences of students is questioned. A qualitative approach is used to explore how students define sexual harassment and how they categorize their experiences in relation to their definitions. The analysis, based on twenty interviews of upper year undergraduate students, suggests that although students define sexual harassment similarly to the objective definition, they do not relate their experiences to the definition. The disparity between abstract formulations and concrete experiences may account for the low reporting. The addition of examples of common sexual harassment experiences is suggested as a way of making the objective definition more comprehensive and accessible. An example of how the objective definition may be developed is provided in the concluding chapter.

The dissertation explores the differences in time spent by women and men in different activities in Matsanjeni Swaziland. We classify the activities under the Systems of National Accounts (SNA), as SNA activities, non-SNA activities and non Productive activities. The study used a 24 hours time diary to collect data from a sample of 50 respondents, 25 of whom were women and 25 were men. The results show that on average, women and men spend almost equal time doing SNA activities, with men spending slightly more time than women. On the other hand, the results show that women spend a lot more time on Non SNA activities compared to men. Finally, the results show that men spend more time on Non Productive activities compared to women. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

This thesis utilizes a qualitative method to investigate recreational sex among teenagers as recounted by current college-aged students. As defined for the purposes of this thesis, recreational sex is any consensual sexual activity undertaken for the purpose of pleasure and can encompass a variety of sexual activities. Questions were focused on attitudes and feelings about experiences and were formulated based on reminiscence methods. Studies that discuss teen sexuality in terms of pleasure are important for acknowledging sexual agency and self-efficacy among teens and for addressing the inherent risk involved in sexual activity. The first part of this thesis focuses on recreational sex in a more traditional recreational context. In other words, how do teens discuss and view recreation and recreational sex? Findings suggest that it is often hard to define sexual activity in terms usually associated with other recreational activities but that there are parallels upon further discussion. In addition, partners, past experience, and use of contraception play a role in shaping current experiences. The second part of this thesis examines the gendered contexts of teenage sexual pleasure. Findings show that the pursuance of pleasure is problematic for females in the same way that other sexual activities are. Participants suggest that sexual pleasure is assumed for males but criticized for females and that females often must negotiate the social landscape carefully to project a particular desirable image. In addition, many female participants described being the victims of sexual assault as part of their sexual experiences. Taken together, these pieces provide a contextual picture of teenage recreational sex. Rather than investigate more traditional aspects of teen sexual behavior (i.e. contraception, alcohol and drug use), this thesis approaches sexual activity in terms of pleasure. This gives credence to the idea that teens not only experience sexual pleasure but also that they actively seek it.

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism (pre-SC), or predation of a potential mate before sperm transfer, provides an ideal model system for behavioral ecology's current focus on inter-sexual conflict. Studying the North American fishing spider (Dolomedes triton), I tested three female-benefit hypotheses for pre-SC: indirect benefits, direct benefits, and aggressive spillover. First, pre-SC may reflect a mating bias providing females with 'good-genes' benefits. By manipulating each female's options with regard to the most cited phenotypic advantage in male spiders, body size, I show that while females exhibit no bias in their attack tendency on males of different body sizes, large males mate significantly more often than small males. Second, pre-SC may be explained by direct benefits if females use it as an adaptive foraging/mating trade-off. My work provides mixed support for this idea: (i) females vary attacks according to the availability of mates, (ii) females do not vary attacks according to the availability of food, and (iii) females derive discrete fecundity benefits from consuming a male. Finally, I tested the aggressive-spillover hypothesis, which posits that pre-SC is a by-product of selection for high levels of aggression towards prey in traditional foraging contexts. Path analysis indicated intra-individual, positive correlations between aggression in foraging contexts and the mating context, thus supporting the hypothesis. I conclude by stressing that pre-SC in a given species may rarely be explained by one hypothesis, and that studies accounting for multiple benefits that fluctuate as behavioral-ecological contexts shift should give a more realistic glimpse of behavioral ecology and evolution.