Approached with either "indifference" or "panic" in our culture, discussion of childhood sexuality remains submerged within political and moral debates that have historically impeded its understanding. In contrast, Sexual Development in Childhood brings together respected researchers and clinicians to assess the current state of knowledge about childhood sexuality. The result is a comprehensive presentation of the latest research that is rational, balanced, and thorough.

The wide-ranging essays in Sexual Development in Childhood seek collectively to answer many of the most vital questions in the field of childhood development. What is childhood sexuality, and why should it be studied? How should it be measured, and what research methods are most useful? What are the current empirical results of research, and in what direction do these studies intend to go in the future? The essays offered in answer to these questions propose to help us understand both the normal range of sexual development in children and the consequences of abusive sexual experiences-objectives that should make this volume an essential resource for teachers, advocates, and social policy professionals as well as for researchers and clinicians.

The latest research on children's sexual development.

About the Author

John Bancroft was trained in medicine at Cambridge University and in psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. He has been Director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and Professor of Psychiatry at Indiana University since May 1995. He is the author of Human Sexuality and Its Problems, and was founding editor of Annual Review of Sex Research.

Reviews

This book grew out of a Kinsey Institute workshop, at which 30 or so invited guests summarized their previously circulated papers on childhood sexuality. The volume includes both the papers and the discussion. Historian Philip Jenkins opens by emphasizing what he called the research pendulum on childhood sexuality: interest in the subject has swung several times between intense concern and research and virtual neglect. Clearly, childhood sexuality is now a popular topic. Essays address methodological issues and the importance of getting a wide variety of subjects. The two concluding papers summarize problems and prospects: Diane di Mauro outlines a pattern for future research but also emphasizes the importance of finding ways of disseminating the findings to the public and interested groups; Bancroft, the editor of the collection, reemphasizes the lack of knowledge about sexual development of children and urges that developing more effective methods of studying the subject should be a priority. The book as a whole takes a major step forward in opening up research and discussion on the subject. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

-- V. L. Bullough * Choice *

The book as a whole takes a major step forward in opening up research and discussion on the subject. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.July 2004

* Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253342430
Author John Henry Jeffries Bancroft, M.D.
Format Hardback
Page Count 504
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 816g