Does Sexual Orientation Have an Impact on Nonverbal Behavior in Interpersonal Communication?

This study explores the impact of sexual orientation on the nonverbal behavior of individuals in dyadic communication situations. It is hypothesized that the patterns of nonverbal behavior displayed in dyads with and without an individual with an open homosexual orientation are different from those in dyads with heterosexual participants only. An observational study was conducted with a total of 24 participants, 12 with a heterosexual orientation and 12 with a homosexual orientation (6 males and 6 females in each group). Participants were videotaped during a 20-min conversation which took place in dyads that were composed of individuals of the same biological sex with either the same sexual orientation (homosexual or heterosexual) or differing sexual orientations. Results show that in dyads which include a homosexual person nonverbal behavior is different from that displayed in dyads consisting of heterosexual participants only in terms of self-touch, body posture, body orientation, and gaze. Results are interpreted in terms of stereotyping and presentation rules.     

Prostitution and Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation

The paper aims to enhance understanding of sex trafficking and prostitution and provides distinction between the two. It argues that it is not prostitution itself which may fuel sex trafficking, but the exploitation of prostitution. Examples of the pro-prostitution and anti-prostitution policies are provided to support this argument. Svitlana Batsyukova received her Masters Degree in Public Administration with concentration in International Development from University of Washington, USA.     

Sexual Prejudice in Sport Scale: A New Measure

ABSTRACT

This study describes the process of developing and validating the Sexual Prejudice in Sport Scale (SPSS), which is a multidimensional instrument developed to assess attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (LG) in sports. The authors conducted two studies: first, to establish the factor structure of the SPSS on 297 heterosexual athletes; and, second, to test the reliability and validity of the resulting 19-item scale on a sample of 311 heterosexual and 160 LG athletes. Exploratory factor analysis of an initial item pool yielded three factors: open rejection, which assesses the blatant prejudice expressed toward LG people; denial of visibility, which evaluates attitude toward the coming out of LG people; and gendering performance, which corresponds to gender stereotypes about performance/skills of LG people. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the stability of the SPSS. The authors documented internal consistency, test-retest stability, and convergent/divergent validity. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Risky sexual behavior of foreign and native-born women in emerging adulthood: The long reach of mother-daughter relationships in adolescence

Parents’ influence on young adult sexual behavior receives little attention compared to influence on adolescent behavior. Yet effective parenting should have lasting effects. Even fewer studies examine parents’ influence on sexual behavior of both foreign and native-born young adults. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) Waves I (1994–95) and III (2001–02), we examine longitudinal associations among mother-daughter relationship quality and nativity during adolescence and young adults’ risky sexual behaviors of condom use at last intercourse, number of sexual partners, and STI diagnoses (N = 4460). Women, 18–26 years old, who had good mother-adolescent daughter relationships have fewer partners and STIs in the past year. Second generation women have worse mother-adolescent daughter relationships, compared to third generation. Relationship quality does not explain associations between nativity and risky behavior. Lasting associations between relationship quality and risk behaviors suggest that reproductive health interventions should enhance mother-adolescent relationships.     

Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Compulsivity

Abstract

Sexual addiction represents a life-threatening obsession-a pattern of out-of-control sexual behavior with serious physical, emotional, and legal consequences. This paper discusses the concept, etiology and characteristics of sexual addiction. It offers information that will help mental health professionals accurately assess the problem and provide appropriate treatment. Case material illustrates a multi-modal treatment process with a young gay male who was addicted to anonymous sex. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.     

What Pediatric Subspecialists Need to Know About Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Review of the American Board of Pediatrics Content Outlines for Subspecialty Certifying Examinations

ABSTRACT

Many adolescents with complex medical conditions regard their subspecialty providers as an important source of clinical information including sexual and reproductive health information related to their medical condition. Thus, training for pediatric subspecialty providers should include clinically relevant sexual and reproductive content. The purpose of this study is to understand what disease-relevant sexual and reproductive health information is currently included in content outlines for each of the available pediatric subspecialty certifying examinations. The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) offers 17 subspecialty certifying examinations; 13 content outlines are available on the ABP website which defines the body of knowledge to be tested. Each available outline underwent content analysis for sexual and reproductive health information. A team of adolescent medicine physicians identified seven thematic areas including: 1) puberty; 2) sexual behavior and identity; 3) fertility; 4) contraception; 5) sexually transmitted infections; 6) other genital pathology; 7) pregnancy. Across disciplines, learning objectives related to sexual behavior, sexual identity, fertility, contraception and pregnancy were the most limited. However, content related to puberty, sexually transmitted infections and other genital pathology was better represented. Overall, disease-and treatment-specific sexual and reproductive health information was sparse. Most subspecialty content outlines contain very little disease-specific sexual and reproductive health information despite the growing adolescent and young adult population with complex medical conditions in the care of pediatric subspecialists. Further studies are needed to explore if lack of sexual and reproductive information on board exams relates to the knowledge base and skill set of pediatric subspecialists.     

The attraction to sexual aggression scale: Part two

In this second article of a two‐part series, data from three separate studies are presented supporting the reliability, discriminant, and construct validity of the Attraction to Sexual Aggression (ASA) scale. Higher scores on this scale were associated with attitudes supporting aggression against women, affective reactions to media portrayals of forced sex, physiological and self‐reported sexual arousal, hostility toward women, dominance motives, and antisocial personality characteristics. Based on data with low sexual aggressors, higher ASA scores were associated with greater similarity (on relevant dimensions) to high sexual aggressors, suggesting that ASA may help identify potentially sexually aggressive men at “risk” for future sexual coercion. However, caution in the use of such identification is urged. Finally, it is concluded that although the data support the usefulness of earlier work with self‐reported likelihood measures, the use of ASA is an improvement in this line of research. Directions for future development of this scale and research are also discussed.     

Positive Reaction to Disclosure and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

Factors associated with improvement in the behavioral-emotional functioning of sexually abused children, from 6 to 18 years of age, were investigated. Children were classified by their therapist according to current level of disclosure regarding past abuse. Ratings of degree of support offered by significant people in the children's lives were also made. Findings showed children who were in an actively disclosing stage to be exhibiting significantly less externalizing behavior problems than non-disclosing children. Children who were fully disclosing without recantation showed significantly lower dissociation than did all other subjects. Children who recanted with or without re-disclosure showed significantly more post-traumatic stress symptomatology. As all the subjects were in foster care, the reactions to disclosure of foster parents proved to be most salient with respect to current functioning. Children who received full support from foster parents showed significantly lower depression scores than did children who received only partial support.

Other significant findings pertain to the effects of time since initial disclosure, age of subjects, and type of sexual abuse on behavioral-emotional functioning. Implications for developing structured training programs for foster parents and their caseworkers are discussed. Recommendations are made for future study using the present design with a non-foster care population and investigating the effect that the timing of supportive reactions to disclosure has.     

Wars and Invisible Girls,Shadow Industries,and the Politics of Not-Knowing

This article begins in the interior of Mozambique during the country's post-independence war with the stories of three girls variously affected by violence. It then follows girls' war experiences in general out from the frontlines to wider international locales where girls face domestic violence in their home communities and civil and labor violence at the hands of (shadow) transnational profiteers; who reap billions of dollars yearly on children's factory, domestic, and sexual labor. The article is set in an overall theoretical framework that explores how a politics of invisibility - literally of 'not-knowing' - has developed in which little public information is available on children's human rights violations or on the political tactics and economic gain that have attended to these violations.     

A Critique of the Validity of Polygraph Testing in Child Sexual Abuse Cases

The present paper examines the problematic application of polygraph testing to child sexual abuse cases. Psychopysiological methods to assess the veracity of child sexual abuse allegations are being advocated despite a failure of empirical research to support the validity of polygraph testing and the absence of adequate validity studies for its application to child sexual abuse. The use of plygraph testing in child sexual abuse matters is especially problematic because of the nature of sexual abuse. Processes associated with the offender's perception of events, emotional arousal associated with investigations, and base rates of sexual abuse all suggest problems with the use of polygraph testing.