There are a number of adult-sponsored institutions and organizations; some, such as the church, serve children and youth as well as adults, and some, such as the school, deal exclusively with the young. Some of these organizations provide the adolescent with experiences that have sexual content, but almost exclusively at the cognitive level. These organizations provide knowledge, communicate models for behavior, and teach and reinforce standards of sexual behavior consistent with adult norms. The first of these we will consider is the church.
The Church and Adolescent Sexuality
Traditional Judaeo-Christian codes have specifically condemned the acceptance
of and the deliberate fostering of sexual encounters unless such encounters are within
marriage and integral to the procreative function. The traditional orthodox Jewish
code condemns all nudity, either of the whole or any part of the body except the face
and the hands, prohibits the observance of nudity, and prohibits the exposure of nude
bodies either in public or in the privacy of one's home-even during the coital
relationship of spouses or in the solitude of changing one's clothing, or in bathing.
(This section is based largely on Kinsey, 1953, p. 259-261.)
It consequently follows that
physical contacts between nude bodies or nude parts of the bodies, except for the
limited genital contacts that are necessary for procreation, are proscribed.
While fondling and caressing are not in themselves identified as sinful in
Catholic moral philosophy, the traditional code is specific in considering such
activities as sins if they constitute anything more than aids to marital coitus. Fondling
and caressing for genital pleasure is a mortal sin even in marriage. Traditionally,
Protestant denominations have reflected some of the same basic attitudes toward
erotic encounters.
One can get some of the flavor of the most conservative Christian view on sexual
encounters of adolescents in Joiner's book, Your Dating Data (1962). Joiner quotes a
"Catholic authority" as saying that 'going steady is pagan unless there is a reasonable
chance of getting married within two years.' She points out that "progressive petting"
leads to certain trouble, and that the young person should turn back before it is too
late. Also, the automobile is no place to kiss, neither is it wise to park in a secluded
place and talk because the practice encourages intimacy and invites suspicion from
on-lookers. The girl is never obliged to kiss a boy; a warm handshake or smile or even
a light caress is recommended.
Joiner suggests that the young reader settle in his own
mind some major issues regarding dating encounters before they happen. Joiner does
allow that on special occasions there may be a time and place where a young man can
properly put his arms around his girl for a moment with no feelings of guilt.
On the other hand, some more liberal clergy and laity have come to regard dating
encounters even to the extent of fondling and caressing among the young as having
value in developing emotional capacities and contributing to future marital
adjustments. There is a fear that the more severely that sex expression of children and
adolescents is curtailed, the more restricted they will be as adults for fully experiencing
the satisfactions of intimacy. "We have gone along with the new ways because in our
hearts we couldn't feel that they were wholly evil... The freeing of sex from old taboos
has enabled us to see its Christian meaning more clearly" (Mace, 1964, p. 11).
All major denominations devote a considerable portion of their resources to
programs for young people; however, their programs commonly reflect adult rather
than youth culture. Sorensen found that half (49 percent) of all adolescents believe
that the churches teach that enjoyment of sex is sinful, while most describe the
church's attitude toward sex as being negative and ineffectual (Sorensen, 1973, p. 96).
We turn now to some of the cases in which adolescents relate their experiences
with religious organizations around the subject of sex.