Assignment of Child Psychology

Submitted by: Ume Ayman

Submitted to: Ms.Shazra

Date of submission: 27/11/2023

Professional Diploma In Clinical Psychology

Department of psychology
 Table of content

1. Sexual problems of children

2. Causes
3. Risk factors
4. Sexual problems in Adolescence
5. Sexual behavior & functioning
6. Challenges faced
7. Role of parents
8. Role of peers & friends
9. Role of educators
10.Sex education
11.Importance of sex education
12.References
Sexual Problems in Children
Problem Sexual Behavior A child's sexual behavior can be a problem if it is out of the ordinary
for his or her stage of development, interferes with normal interests and activities, involves other
children in a way that is upsetting, takes advantage of children who are younger, or involves
pressure or force. Behaviors that are public, disruptive and continue in spite of efforts to stop
them, or bother or hurt other children are most likely to require professional help.

The following behaviors do not occur with most children and are generally considered to be
sexual behavior problems:

 Excessive preoccupation with sexual words, sexual body parts and sexual activity, especially
when seen in school-age or older children.
 Repeated display of sexual body parts in public, especially when seen in school-age or older
children.
 Persistent, secretive sex play with other children after being told not to. Putting objects in
sexual body parts.
 Imitating or trying to have sexual intercourse with toys, pets or other children, especially in
preschool or school age children.
 Doing sexual things with much younger children or children who are emotionally or socially
at a much younger stage of development.
 Pressuring or forcing others into sexual activity of any kind.

Causes of Sexual Behavior Problems

There are many possible reasons why children may show sexual behaviors that are inappropriate
or unexpected for their age. In general, children’s sexual behavior problems are rarely about
sexual pleasure. In fact, these behaviors are much more likely to be related to anxiety, traumatic
experiences, curiosity, poor impulse control, or other factors.

Some of the factors that have been linked to the development of sexual behavior problems
include:

 Exposure to traumatic experiences, such as abuse, natural disasters, or accidents

 Exposure to violence in the home
 Excessive exposure to adult sexual activity or nudity in the home (including media exposure
through television or the Internet)
 Inadequate rules about modesty or privacy in the home
 Inadequate supervision in the home, often as a result of parental factors such as depression,
substance abuse, or frequent absences due to work
 Children with sexual behavior problems often show other behavioral and social difficulties,
including:
 Impulsiveness and a tendency to act before they think
 Difficulties following rules and listening to authority figures at home, in school and in the
community
 Problems making friends their own age and a tendency to play with much younger children
 A limited ability to self soothe (calm themselves down), so they may touch their own genitals
(masturbate) as a way to release stress and calm down

Although some children who have sexual behavior problems have a history of being sexually
abused, many children who act out sexually have NOT been sexually abused. Sexual abuse may
be suspected when a child:

 Reports that another person has touched his or her private parts
 Has had contact with a known sexual abuser

Sexual behavior problems in young children include any act that:

 Is disruptive (they cannot focus on a task due to the behavior)

 Occurs to the exclusion of other activities and cannot be redirected
 Causes emotional or physical pain or injury to themselves or others
 Is associated with physical aggression
 Simulates penetrative and/or adult sexual acts

Risk factors for developing harmful sexual behaviors

There are several risk factors that can contribute to children exhibiting harmful
sexual behaviors including:

 Experiencing domestic and family violence

 Chronic, long-term neglect
 Witnessing sexual activity that is inappropriate
 Being a victim of sexual abuse
Sexual problems in adolescene
Adolescence is a critical stage in the human developmental process. It is a period of transition
during which an individual undergoes physical, hormonal, and psychological changes. Humans
develop formal operational thought processes, abstract thinking, learn to envision consequences
of one’s actions, a sense of identity, social involvement, peer interaction, and an awareness of
one’s sexuality in this stage.

Sexuality cannot be defined purely based on the biological changes an individual undergoes. It is
a lifelong process that includes various domains of experience such as emotions, urges,
motivation, feelings, forms of attention, aspects of self, biological processes, moral precepts,
interpersonal relationships, and social interactions.

Sexual Behaviors and Functioning

The development of adolescent sexuality consists of 4 domains of the sexual response cycle-
sexual desire, sexual arousal, sexual behaviors, and sexual functioning. Sexual behaviors include
abstinence, masturbation, and partnered sex.

1. Abstinence in adolescence is described as refraining from oral, vaginal, or anal partnered

sexual behaviors. The view of abstinence among adolescents is distinctive from that among
younger children, which is influenced by their developmental experiences in the sociocultural
context. The emergence of sexual cognitions, conscious sexual identities, motivations, and
desires are hormonally mediated in association with adrenarche and pubarche.9 Studies have
shown that young adolescents consider abstinence as part of a continuum, in which it is
considered as a standard to be developmentally ready to make a transition from sexual
abstinence to active sexual interactions.

2. Masturbation is the second-most prevalent adolescent sexual behavior. Though it is widely

subjected to stigma and societal condemnation, the medical field holds it to be
developmentally normal behavior. The age of onset of masturbation is not well defined in the
literature. Retrospective studies stipulate it to be 13 years for men and 15 years for
women. Masturbation is associated with other adolescent sexual behaviors. It may provide a
means of gaining familiarity and comfort with one’s sexual responses and genitals. Young
women who engage in masturbation exhibit high levels of sexual self-awareness, higher
effectiveness in attaining sexual satisfaction, and resistance to the sexual double standard.

3. Partnered sexual behavior includes kissing, touching erotogenic body parts, partner-assisted
masturbation, penile-vaginal intercourse, and penile-anal intercourse. Another contemporary
behavior that is included in this is sexual exchange via electronic media, generally known as
phone sex or sexting. The essential element of partnered sex is its dyadic nature. This defines
the adolescent’s perspectives on social attitudes, motivations, and outcomes of their sexual
relations. Partnered, noncoital sexual behaviors comprise the majority of the adolescents’
 sexual experience. It does serve as an experiential framework for their first-ever coitus and
determine risky sexual interaction with their partners.

Challenges Faced
Sexuality is seen as a domain that requires maturity to experience and to express, which is
assumed to be the characteristic of adulthood. Teenagers who are in their early and middle
adolescence are generally impulsive and sensitive to social pressure. They tend to have minimal
knowledge about sexual interactions and lack confidence and assertiveness in their sexual
encounters. Hence, researchers suggest that they are vulnerable to potential risks such as condom
less sex, nonconsensual sexual experience, sexually transmitted infections, teenage pregnancy,
and multiple sexual partners.

Key Recommendations:
1. To include psychologists/counselors/mental health professionals for sexuality education, in
addiction to teachers.
2. Create avenues like anonymous platforms for open discussion about sexuality involving
parents, teachers, and adolescents.
3. Addressing current gaps in interventions by generating appropriate trained volunteers to
support peer-led culturally sensitive interventions.

Role of Family and Parents

The parents and family play a significant role in the development of sexuality in the individual.
Social sexualization begins as early as late childhood and continues through adolescence, which
involves parents, siblings, peers, and significant other adults. Parents are the primary source of
information for any child to gain knowledge about sexuality. In most conservative societies, the
concept of sexuality is not well discussed within the family. Parents hesitate to provide proper
sex education to their children for various reasons. It might be due to lack of education in the
parents, parent-child relationship, parental negative attitude toward sexuality, anxiety about the
safety of their children, or the feelings of awkwardness to discuss sex with their kids. The child-
parent relationship is an important aspect that affects the adolescent’s attitude toward sexuality.

Role of Peers and Friends

Peers influence adolescents’ sexuality and sexual behavior by providing either conventional or
deviant lifestyle models, by providing models for sexual attitudes and behaviors, by serving as
sources of information and sources of social approval and disapproval for certain attitudes and
behaviors, and by providing sexual and potential partners. However, for better or worse,
gathering sources from the environment is very important. And peers serve as the best source in
that way to help adolescents discover themselves as sexual being.
Role of Educators

The role of both parents and educators in sex education influences adolescent behavior, and
parents and adolescents’ preferences. Because, during adolescence, the individuals begin to
create a new self-identity, build role models and social values by turning more toward the society
rather than the parents. Parents who do not share a cordial relationship or those who have
reservations about the concept of sexuality fail to provide sufficient information to the
adolescents. Hence, educators need to provide factual and sufficient information, create a
supportive environment for the adolescents to express and sort their concerns about sexuality,
keeping in mind the social, familial, and religious sensitivities.

Sex Education
Sex education is the provision of knowledge about body development, sex, sexuality, and
relationships, as well as skill development, to assist young people in communicating about sex
and making educated decisions about their sexual health (Bridges, 2014). Sex education should
take place across a student’s grade levels, with material tailored to the student’s developmental
stage and cultural context. It should include puberty and reproduction, abstinence, contraception
and condoms, relationships, sexual assault prevention, body image, gender identity, and sexual
orientation, among other topics
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is critical in preparing young people for a safe,
successful, and satisfying life in a world where HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections
(STIs), unwanted pregnancies, gender-based violence (GBV), and gender inequality continue to
pose significant threats to their well-being. Sex education also provides people with the
knowledge, skills, and motivation they need to make informed decisions about their sex and
sexuality.

IMPORTANCE OF SEX EDUCATION

1. Sex education enhances young people’s understanding and improves their attitudes about
sexual and reproductive health and behavior.
2. Sexuality education, whether in or out of the classroom, does not increase the incidence of
sexual activity, sexual risk-taking behavior, or STI/HIV infection rates among young people.
3. When school-based programs are supplemented with the engagement of parents and teachers,
training institutes, and youth-friendly services, sexuality education has the greatest impact.
4. Some teenagers lack the necessary communication and assertiveness skills to negotiate safer
sex situations, some adolescents find it difficult to resist unwanted sex or feel forced to
exchange sex for money, a Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) would help them
understand consent, acceptance, tolerance etc., and also help them understand rape and its
consequences
5. If more girls are educated about their sexuality, they will be more informed about
contraception, which will help minimize the number of unwanted births.
References
 https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/
understanding_coping_with_sexual_behavior_problems.pdf
 https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Sexual-Behaviors-
Young-Children.aspx#:~:text=Sexual%20behavior%20problems%20in%20young,inj
 https://depts.washington.edu/uwhatc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Sexual-Behavior-and-
Children.pdf
 https://healththink.org/sex-education-a-step-in-the-right-direction/