culture and observing intercourse

[lisa fontes <lfontes@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would suggest that the question of harm in observing intercourse is complex. I
have interviewed Latina women who found it very difficult if not traumatic to be
exposed to their parents' or married siblings' intercourse in close quarters--even
if this was normative culturally. They described it as stimulating and therefore
disturbing. In a focus group, one called it a form of abuse and the other Latinas
agreed.
Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.

Steven Kairys wrote:

> Can you explain why harm may be present in clinical studies but not when more
> general survey work is done?
>
> Is harm not really there are at all, and what is wrong with the clinical study
> if it shows there is harm?
>
> If there is a discrepancy between clinical measures of harm and more general
> surveys in this topic then what about other topics?
>
> Brian Morgan
>
> Jim Christopherson wrote:
>
> > Paul Okami had written a number of articles, published in the Journal of Sex
> > Research, reviewing the literature on this
> > topic, the general conclusion of which is that it is only in Western culture
> > with a Freudian tradition that the "primal scene" is regarded as a problem.
> > The reference for one of these articles is:
> >
> > Okami, P. (1995) ‘Chjldhood exposure to parental nudity, parent-child
> > co-sleeping and primal scenes: a review of clinical opinion and empirical
> > evidence’ Journal of Sex Research, 32, 1, pp51-64.
> >
> > In cultures where the whole family sleeps in one room, no-one would see it
> > as an issue. The evidence of harm comes from clinical studies. More general
> > survey research does not reach that conclusion.
> > Jim Christopherson,
> > Centre for Social Work,
> > University of Nottingham UK
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Benjamin E Saunders <saunders@musc.edu>
> > To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
> > <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
> > Date: 23 November 1999 22:28
> > Subject: observing intercourse
> >
> > >Colleagues,
> > >
> > >I am looking for help with two issues.  First, is anyone aware of any
> > >published research examining the impact, if any, of children inadvertantly
> > >observing adults having sexual intercourse.  The prototypical example of
> > >this situation would be parents having sex with the door open and the
> > >child observing the sexual behavior without the child's knowledge.  I am
> > >not interested in intentional situations, i.e., a sexual offender has a
> > >child watch while he or she has sex with a partner in order to increase
> > >sexual gratification. Any references would be greatly appreciated.  This
> > >situation is increasingly being identified as "abuse" or neglect in some
> > >areas and I was wondering if we know anything about the impact of
> > >observing sexual activity between adults on children.
> > >
> > >Second, I am also looking for published research that examines the impact,
> > >if any, of sexual assault in childhood on victims' adult work life.  What
> > >is the impact of childhood sexual assault on occupational achievement,
> > >income achievement, work life expectancy (i.e., years of productive work),
> > >promotions and career progression, etc. Do adults assaulted as children
> > >change jobs more often?  Do they use more sick days?  Do they ultimately
> > >make less money over their work life compared to what they would have made
> > >had they not been assaulted?  Is there any evidence that there are certain
> > >jobs that CSA victims cannot do as adults because of their victimization
> > >or limitations on their work that prevent them from being able to be
> > >employed in certain jobs.
> > >
> > >Any help with any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > >Thanks, Ben
> > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >Benjamin E. Saunders, Ph.D.
> > >Associate Professor and Director, Family and Child Program
> > >National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
> > >Medical University of South Carolina
> > >165 Cannon Street, Box 250852  (843)792-2945
> > >telephone Charleston, SC 29425 (843)792-3388 fax
> > >
> > >Visit our website at:   http://www.musc.edu/cvc/
> > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >
> > >
>
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Name: Navidad.exe
>    Navidad.exe    Type: unspecified type (application/octet-stream)
>               Encoding: base64