We know very little about sexual experiences of children. There are many reasons for this, not the least is the fact that until recently we have not admitted, and have not wanted to admit, that "normal" children have sexual experiences. Freud alerted us to the sexual potentialities of the young, but still we were loath to research the subject.
We need not and should not wait longer in researching the sexual
potential and sexual experiences of normal children, though there will
be pockets of resistance. The rewards will be greater than the fears
and threats that will accompany inquiry and free discussion. Sexually
speaking, what are the young capable of experiencing? What are they
experiencing? Many parents, teachers, and others interested in childhood
and the effect of childhood experiences on adult life will appreciate
such inquiry.
This is such a study, albeit an exploratory one. It addresses
itself to the following questions. At how young an age do children have
the capacity to engage in sexual experiences? What kinds of experiences
do the young have with each other as well as with persons older
than themselves? What are the consequences of these encounters for the
young?
This is not the first time these questions have been asked. In the
past they have been dealt with largely within a psychoanalytical conceptual
framework. The conceptual framework used here is sociological,
focusing on the affectional, and more especially the sexual, encounters
of the young with other persons. What little sociological study
there has been has been of a survey nature, reporting on the incidence
of various sexual phenomena. And most surveys have been directed at the
experiences of none younger than the adolescent.
These surveys answer such questions as, At what age does dating begin? What is the incidence
of premarital intercourse, et cetera? On the other hand, there is
a paucity of survey and in-depth studies of the affectional encounters
of infants, children, and preadolescents. This is especially true of
encounters as seen from the perspective of the young participant. Surveys
as "slices of data" are valuable in showing how prevalent various
kinds of behavior are, but taken alone, they oversimplify the picture.
They tell us little or nothing about how the subjects (in this case the
children) define and experience their situations. By letting the young
speak for themselves regarding the nature of affectional encounters,
the interaction of the participants, and the consequences, we hope to
add a quality to the knowledge of encounters of the young.
In beginning any research project one makes a thorough search of
the literature, especially looking for data from the researches of others
who have utilized a compatible conceptual framework. The search for
data on affectional-sexual encounters of infants, children, and preadolescents
has been made, and the findings, mostly from surveys, are
incorporated along with new case data in the chapters to follow.
The new data which the study supplies comes from several sources.
From over one thousand sex histories-recall-that I have collected from
college students while teaching courses in human sexuality and marriage
and the family, from interviews with two hundred unwed mothers
receiving case work services through a large private child-care agency
in the Upper Midwest, and from case material obtained in six communities
where we observed and interviewed around the general question,
What is it like to grow up (sexually) in community?