Research has found absence of premarital sexual experience positively correlated with marital adjustment (Davis , 1929; Terman, 1938; Reevy, 1959; Shope and Broderick, 1967). Others raised doubt of this conclusion (Locke, 1951; Burgess and Wallin, 1953; Kinsey et. al, 1953; Ard, 1974).Bell and Balter (1973) found 81% of married women under 26 had premarital intercourse. Since a majority engage in this, it is appropriate to consider premarital intercourse relationship variables to identify marital correlates.In Love, Strong Affection, and Little Affection premarital intercourse relationships were examined. Questions were explored concerning premarital independent variables: number of relationships, length of relationships, number of live-in partners, relationship exclusivity, sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and gender. Dependent variables were: relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and fidelity, in marriage.This questionnaire study consisted of the Marital Satisfaction Scale (Roach et. al, 1981) and other original items.Subjects were 286 volunteers from Long Island MacArthur airport, 209 of which reported premarital intercourse relationships and 77 who did not, all under age 41, in first marriages.Pearson correlation and t-test were used. The hypothesis was confirmed for only In Love premarital relationships with marital satisfaction and marital sexual satisfaction being positively related to premarital sexual satisfaction.Groups with and without premarital intercourse were not significantly different on marital satisfaction or marital sexual satisfaction. For subjects having premarital intercourse relationships higher marital satisfaction was related to higher number of live-in partners and higher relationship and sexual satisfaction for In Love type. Also for only this type, higher marital sexual satisfaction was related to higher premarital sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction.Having no or few premarital intercourse partners was associated with higher likelihood of fidelity. Other premarital factors associated with higher fidelity were longer In love relationships and higher number of In Love live-in relationships. Lower relationship satisfaction with premarital Strong Affection type also led to higher fidelity. Women were found to have higher likelihood of fidelity.Summarizing, In Love premarital intercourse relationships seem to relate positively to marriage. More independent variables were related to fidelity than the other dependent variables.

‘Cohabitation’ has become another form of ‘marriage’. It appears to be challenging what is regarded by many as a traditional marriage practice. As a trend cohabitation has found resistance from those who cling to traditional marriage practices such as Christian marriage and African marriage. It has raised moral concerns, especially among the churches. The New Testament has been used to address moral issues, and consequently, there is a tendency to regard the New Testament as an authority on such issues. The first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter seven, one text among many, in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, has been used authoritatively to address issues surrounding marriage, divorce, marriage annulments, celibacy and sexual conduct. Richard Hays sees the New Testament as being ‘normative’ in dealing with such ethical issues. In this dissertation I argue that when dealing with issues of ethics the New Testament is insufficient to address contemporary moral issues. On its own the New Testament cannot be taken as normative as other sources offer influential views that must be taken into account including the role of conscience as well as how Paul links a theology of the body with his moral theology. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. Th. (New Testament)

Contemporary studies demonstrate that non-marital sex (heterosexual penetrative sex) is on the rise and opinions about it have become more liberal, as shown by The Pew Research Center and a study published in 2014 by ChristianMingle and JDate. Pew research also revealed that there are 5.3 million Jews in the United States and one out of five ethnic and cultural Jews report having no religion (Lugo 23). The combination of these two societal trends has caused new issues to emerge in the age-old debate within educational, civic and religious communities about non-marital sex. The conflict over non-marital sex can be traced through the writing of contemporary cultural and feminist critics and parallel trends in rabbinic thought. Socio-sexual change (here explored through the rise in non-marital sex) does directly affect Jewish religiosity and identity. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The aim of this thesis is to examine the historical use of "poison cabinets", or restricted shelves, in Swedish libraries. Drawing upon the theories of Mary Douglas and Michel Foucault, it also seeks to sketch a cultural and ideological context of the practice; with the emphasis on social or mental hygiene, and disciplinary aspects. Through qualitative interviews as well as digitalized recordings of librarians active during the first half of the 20th century, actual examples of poison cabinets are presented. A closer examination is conducted of past collections at Lund University Library, and two large public libraries situated in Växjö and Sigtuna. The essay also investigates views on library censorship, controversial literature, and other related subjects reflected in th elibrary press during the period 1916-1979. In summary, the researched material suggests a historically widespread use of restricted collections, although the objectives of its use differ depending on library function. While the collection at Lund University Library appears to have been the result of state censorship, and is associated with the obligation to preserve materials imposed on legal deposit libraries, public libraries' poison cabinets have had a stronger connection to an educational reading culture. As such, public libraries' main concerns have been less about bad books, more about easy-to-corrupt patrons. The study is a two-year master's thesis in Library and Information Science written at Uppsala University.

This thesis examines international feminist activism from the late nineteenth century to the present. In particular it focuses on the campaigns against forms of sexual slavery including child marriage. It examines the male sex right as a major cause of sexual exploitation and it investigates claims that similarities between trafficking children into the institutions of marriage and prostitution reflect the power of heteropatriarchy in governing the social model of heterosexuality and the ensuing subordination of women and girls. It argues that challenging sexual exploitation is difficult because of the social acceptance of men’s right of sexual access to women and girls. / This thesis examines the ways in which the ideologies of cultural relativism and sexual libertarianism protect the concept of ‘conjugal rights’ in systems of traditional marriage. It introduces the theory of sexual relativism in order to explain how cultural relativism works in relation to child marriage. Sexual relativism as a corollary of cultural relativism is used as a feminist tool of analysis in order to make the male sex right visible and politically accountable. / Lesbian historiography is introduced in order to document the role of lesbian experience in the lives and networks of these international activists. The inclusion of lesbian existence in this thesis is a unique approach intended to restore historical accuracy to the lives of women who have been involved in international campaigns against forms of sexual exploitation that include child marriage, child prostitution, incest, and other harmful cultural practices. I discuss how lesbians and spinsters, as unhusbanded women, experienced freedom from domestic duties including child care and the sexual servicing of men. Their ensuing independence enabled them to become involved in political work and by forming networks they were able to discuss and formulate their ideas. I explore the relationship between the personal and political in the examination of these women’s lives. In particular I examine the lesbian existence within the political and friendship networks of interwar feminists such as Eleanor Rathbone, Constance Antonina (Nina) Boyle, Alison Neilans, Cicely Hamilton, Katharine Furse and Margaret Haig. The radical feminist approach to this inquiry is intended to contribute to filling gaps in the knowledge base of feminist history and to broaden the transdisciplinary approach to international scholarship.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, School of Political Science, Criminology and Sociology (Criminology) 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Würzburg, 2002.

‘Cohabitation’ has become another form of ‘marriage’. It appears to be challenging what is regarded by many as a traditional marriage practice. As a trend cohabitation has found resistance from those who cling to traditional marriage practices such as Christian marriage and African marriage. It has raised moral concerns, especially among the churches. The New Testament has been used to address moral issues, and consequently, there is a tendency to regard the New Testament as an authority on such issues. The first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter seven, one text among many, in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, has been used authoritatively to address issues surrounding marriage, divorce, marriage annulments, celibacy and sexual conduct. Richard Hays sees the New Testament as being ‘normative’ in dealing with such ethical issues. In this dissertation I argue that when dealing with issues of ethics the New Testament is insufficient to address contemporary moral issues. On its own the New Testament cannot be taken as normative as other sources offer influential views that must be taken into account including the role of conscience as well as how Paul links a theology of the body with his moral theology. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. Th. (New Testament)

The most widespread intervention in South Africa into the sexualities of young people is school based sexuality education. However there is a dearth of research in this area, and studies that have been conducted highlight major weaknesses with implementation. Research from Western countries indicates that the messages conveyed in sexuality education are resisted if they conflict with the desired sexual subjectivities of young people. This indicates a need for further research into desired youth sexualities, and school based sexuality education. While South African studies of young people‘s talk about sexualities have been conducted, there is a paucity of literature in this area from a discursive perspective. This study is situated within a feminist post-structuralist paradigm, utilising a performative-performance analytical approach which synthesises Butlerian theory with a narrative-discursive methodology. This approach enables an analysis of both the macro-discursive power webs within which sexualities are situated, and the micro-discursive activity through which sexual subject positions are constructed. I used this approach to analyse the talk of groups of students from a Further Education and Training College about the sexualities of High School learners and their own past sexuality education. Findings showed that that the most dominant discursive resources which were utilised to construct sexualities were societal sexual norms discourses. These foundational discourses constructed gendered sexualities of compulsory hyper-heterosex for men, and compulsory compliant girlfriendhood for women. Such gendered sexualities reinforced patriarchal and abusive gendered and sexual practices. Ways in which participants troubled the dominant gendered sexualities through the performance of alternative sexual positions were analysed, as these 'troubling' performances indicate mutable aspects of the normative gendered field. Participants drew on a discourse of disconnect when talking about their school sexuality education, and their parents‘ (lack of) communication with them about sex. This suggests that adultist attempts to construct a 'responsible' sexual subject position for young people are resisted when such a position is constructed in a non-relational manner. Collusion between the constructed gendered sexualities and the discourse of disconnect results in the un-performability of a 'responsible' sexual subject position. These findings were used to provide suggestions for enhancing school based sexuality interventions.

The introduction provides a concise discussion of the confused condition of our Western sexuality. It is noted that this confusion has also manifested itself in ecclesiastical circles, and that the contribution of the church towards the resolution of 'moral' confusion in this sphere is in fact minimal. The study then proceeds to a more empirical investigation of certain phenomena which might enable us to demonstrate the close relationship which exists between the individual's psychological condition, or 'state of consciousness', and the type of theology or ethics he formulates or adopts. The present study was an investigation designed to determine whether Anglican clergy and Pentecostal pastors differed significantly with regard to theological orientation, level of self-actualization or the degree of flexibility they showed in the application of sexual values. Furthermore we were concerned to discover the inter-relation between these various traits. A third group of ordinands from St. Paul's College (C.P.S.A.) was also incorporated into the study. All forty eight subjects completed a series of tests and questionnaires which were scored according to eighteen different scales relating to selfactualzing traits, theological orientation and the application of sexual ethics. In brief the results showed that the Anglican clergy were significantly more self-actualizing, theologically liberal and more flexible in the application of sexual values than were Pentecostal pastors. Little difference was found to exist as a function of age and education, or between Anglican clergy and ordinands. Furthermore theological conservatism, general conservatism, dogmatism and inflexibility in the application of sexual ethics were all shown to correlate negatively with self-actualization. In the discussion of results the writer attempted to demonstrate the close relationship between the churchman's psychological make-up and the way in which he construes his world and formulates his theology and ethics. In the concluding discussion the writer once again widened the scope of concern in order to demonstrate how the findings of the present study can be fitted into the broader context of the life of the church. It has been suggested that the type of approach adopted by churchmen to problems of sexuality is very much determined by their psychological make up. Hence in this sense both the status of the church in modern society and the degree to which the church can assist in the resolution of our culture's problems in the field of human sexuality, is greatly dependent upon the 'states of consciousness' of our clergy.