Parents, Teens and Sex

Identity Youth and Crisis

Erik H. Erikson

Essays in ego psychology, based on papers written from 1951 to 1967, by a neo-Freudian analyst and theorist.

The Drama of the Gifted Child

The Search for the True Self

Unknown author

The classic work on the enduring effects of childhood trauma “Rare and compelling in its compassion and its unassuming eloquence.” —New York Why are many of the most successful people plagued by feelings of emptiness and alienation? This wise and profound book has provided millions of readers with an answer—and has helped them to apply it to their own lives. Far too many of us had to learn as children to hide our own feelings, needs, and memories skillfully in order to meet our parents' expectations and win their "love." Alice Miller writes, "When I used the word 'gifted' in the title, I had in mind neither children who receive high grades in school nor children talented in a special way. I simply meant all of us who have survived an abusive childhood thanks to an ability to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb...Without this 'gift' offered us by nature, we would not have survived." But merely surviving is not enough. The Drama of the Gifted Child helps us to reclaim our life by discovering our own crucial needs and our own truth.

Sex and Sexuality Among New York's Puerto Rican Youth

Marysol Asencio

Though Latinos are the youngest and most rapidly growing minority ethnic group in the U.S. today, their experiences with regard to sexuality have received little attention. Remedying this, Sex, and Sexuality draws on the voices of second-generation Puerto Rican adolescents in New York to illustrate the complex interactions of class, culture, and acculturation that produce sexual behaviors and attitudes. Asencio reveals that programs encouraging abstinence, monogamy, and safer-sex practices have interacted with Latino adolescent social and cultural norms to produce changes - but not changes that reduce sexual risk. Her study presents both data and conclusions that have critical significance for the development of policy aimed at mitigating the devastation of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Strong Mothers, Strong Sons

Lessons Mothers Need to Raise Extraordinary Men

Meg Meeker

A timely and empowering book featuring “solid, practical advice for women on how to properly nurture their sons” (Kirkus Reviews). Boys today face unique challenges and pressures, and the burden on mothers to guide their children through them can feel overwhelming. Calling upon over thirty years of experience as a pediatrician and a mother of four, Meg Meeker, M.D., shares the secrets that every mother needs to know in order to strengthen—or rebuild—her relationship with her son, including: • the crucial role mothers play in teaching their sons to respect women as they grow up • the importance of conveying the values of hard work, community service, and a well-developed inner life • the natural traps mothers of boys often fall into—and how to avoid them • the key to raising sons without emotional baggage and limitations • the best ways to survive the moments when the going gets tough and a mom’s natural ways of communicating—talking, analyzing, exploring—only fuel the fire By providing encouragement, education, and essential advice, this empowering book offers a road map to help mothers find the strength and confidence to raise extraordinary sons—so that they will become the men they are meant to be.

Forbidden Fruit

Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers

Mark Regnerus

Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. But how exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers' sexual values and actions? What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors? Are abstinence pledges effective? What does it mean to be "emotionally ready" for sex? Who expresses regrets about their sexual activity and why?Tackling these and other questions, Forbidden Fruit tells the definitive story of the sexual values and practices of American teenagers, paying particular attention to how participating in organized religion shapes sexual decision-making. Merging analyses of three national surveys with stories drawn from interviews with over 250 teenagers across America, Mark Regnerus reviews how young people learn-and what they know-about sex from their parents, schools, peers and other sources. He examines what experiences teens profess to have had, and how they make sense of these experiences in light of their own identities as religious, moral, and responsible persons.Religion can and does matter, Regnerus finds, but religious claims are often swamped by other compelling sexual scripts. Particularly interesting is the emergence of what Regnerus calls a new middle class sexual morality which has little to do with a desire for virginity but nevertheless shuns intercourse in order to avoid risks associated with pregnancy and STDs. And strikingly, evangelical teens aren't less sexually active than their non-evangelical counterparts, they just tend to feel guiltier about it. In fact, Regnerus finds that few religious teens have internalized or are even able to articulate the sexual ethic taught by their denominations. The only-and largely ineffective-sexual message most religious teens are getting is, "Don't do it until you're married." Ultimately, Regnerus concludes, religion may influence adolescent sexual behavior, but it rarely motivates sexual decision making.

Odd Girl Out

The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls

Rachel Simmons

In "Odd Girl Out, " journalist Rachel Simmons shares the indirect aggression that runs through the lives and friendships of girls. With advice for girls, parents, and teachers this is a groundbreaking work that women will agree is long overdue.