Providing Services for Human Sexuality and Well-being - Essay Example

Running Head: Human Sexuality Providing Services for Human Sexuality and Well-being One of the major parts of an individual's life is his sexuality - it affects them from the moment they were born until they die no matter where they are and their nationality. Human sexuality can be defined as the means by which a person lives through and conveys himself or herself as a sexual being (Rathus, et al., 1993, as cited by Molina, 1999). Studying human sexuality is a very important thing - as it was stated in the beginning, human sexuality covers a huge portion in one's life. It affects each and every aspect on how a person lives his life and behavior, among others. Hence, it should not be disregarded to one side but on the contrary, it should be nourished and developed. The most evident means in integrating an individual's sexuality is through their actual gender (Molina, 1999). Being a male or a female could already totally affect one's sexuality. Men and women are different in so many ways even from the smallest aspects to the most salient features - males and females walk, stand and sit differently from one another, both also have their own definite way in looking at something, both will have different opinions about a certain matter, both think in a very distinctive way. Nonetheless, one does not have to go into the psychological details of being a male or a female since physically, the two genders already show numerous differences, from the shape of the face to their body structure as a whole. This aspect of differences is explained by a branch of science called biology - it explains about sexual differentiation, sexual response and sex hormones. It is through sexual differentiation that not only the outer physical attributes of male and female differ but also their sexual reproduction (Bancroft, 2002). Gender is determined in this area, the X and Y chromosomes are the designated determinants of what a male or a female is (an XY chromosome suggests a male while and XX chromosome implies a female). Based on this biological sexual differentiation, the majority of the society only has two rooms form gender identity and that is for a boy and for a girl, unfortunately, it is not always that sexual differentiation and chromosome development produce what is considered as right, correct and acceptable. There have been various cases of intersex or also known as hermaphroditism which is labeled as a "sexual disorder" and "chromosome anomaly" (Fallon, Jr., 2002). Consequently, sexual response referred to the sexual arousal and changes in the body physiologically (Bancroft, 2002). It is also referred to as a psychosomatic circle in which changes that occur in the genitalia affect the processes of the central brain procedures. What is sexual is different among people as what is sexual for one will not be sexual for the other; it depends on the experiences that the person has undergone or the culture that he has lived in and has been accustomed to (Bancroft, 2002). Sexual response is considered as a cognitive activity where it is both a perception and an evaluation (Walen & Roth, 1987, as cited by Molina, 1999). As a perception, it has three basic essentials which are detection - which refers to the capability of the person in identifying stimulus and differentiating it from the other of its type, labeling - which pertains to the categorizing of the stimulus occurrence by the person, and attribution - which refers to the overall articulated rationalization of the whole perception. The said three features could greatly affect the overall sexual performance of a person (Molina, 1999). Lastly, sex hormones is said to be important factor in influencing sexual behavior (Molina, 1999). The hormones that are being secreted by the different glands in the human body, it is solely responsible for why sexual differentiation exists. Male and female, though they are said to be producing the same hormones, differ in the amount of the hormones being produced. Thus, they are not the same - for example, males have more amount of androgens than females; on the other hand, females have more amount of estrogens and progestins. However, the connection of the female hormones with behavior does not have a very definite explanation. It does not have the same effect of puberty on sexual interest and response, their interest in masturbation does not hit its highest point during puberty and the age of commencement of masturbation is widely distributed (Bancroft, 2002). Culture was stated earlier. According to Molina (1999), society, family and personal experiences can influence distinctive sexual behavior - this is supported by the learning theory which centers on the environmental factors in understanding the molded behavior. Then there is behaviorism which stresses the significance of rewards and punishments. In an example used by Molina (1999), if a child learned which part of his body can give him pleasure without his or her parents knowing, they will do it all over again. However, if the child learned these and his or her parents are aware and will associate such actions with emotions like guilt and shame, the child will feel as if he is in an internal skirmish. Moreover, there is the Social Learning Theory which was continuously being used by sexuality theorists in studying human sexuality (Hogben & Byrne, 1998). This theory is referred to as modeling, observational or vicarious learning. This theory combines aspects of radical behaviorism and social cognition. Its modern concept with Rotter but was incorporated in a personality theory, it was formulated with the Rotter's goal to justify individual behavioral differences without referring to psychodynamic models. It assumed that behavior is being led by goal and stressed on probability of reward and its values as the footing for modeling a person's behavior with others (Hogben & Byrne, 1998). Though Rotter's work has nothing to do with human sexuality, it can still be applied with it; thus, according to this theory, children gain knowledge about the apt gender roles from strengthening gender-appropriate behavior (Molina, 1999). Human sexuality can be a very controversial topic; hence, it carries with it a number of issues. There is the issue on early sexual activity, homosexuality, impotence, frigidity, sexual dysfunctions, to name a few (Alexander, 1991; Perloff, 1949). Personally, I would be willing to make conscious effort in learning about these sexual issues and the others which were not mentioned. In my opinion, these issues should be discussed not ignored as it is concerned with one's sexuality which significantly has an effect on one's personality since it is way on how an individual express himself or herself as a sexual being - as stated on the definition of human sexuality provided earlier. I would very much prefer rendering my service to adolescents and teenagers as, in my opinion, they are the ones who need all the guidance they could acquire regarding these topics especially about early sexual activity, pre-marital sex and sexual orientation. At the beginning of the 1990s, 50% to 60% of girls and 70%-75% of boys in the United States of American have already engaged themselves to sexual intercourse even before they have graduated from high school and part of the statistics are children under 13 years old (Alexander, 1991). Fortunately enough, in 2003, according to Kaiser Family Foundation (2005), the percentage of high school students who have reported having sexual intercourse have already declined from 1993. By just centering on the teenagers ages 15 to 19 years old, in 1993, there are 56% of boys and 50% of girls that have had sex, though not much, in 2003, the numbers have gone down as there are only 48% of boys and 45% of girls that have had sexual intercourse (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). Though the numbers have already gone down, the society should not be complacent enough especially since there are consequences that come along early sexual activity. There is the possibility of pregnancy among females, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. In line with psychological development, early sexual activity can result to low self-esteem, interrupted normal development tasks, and repeated unsatisfying relationships which can come from unsatisfactory sexual experiences (Alexander, 1991). Certainly, I would wait for the client to bring up the issue as forcing them to speak up will probably result to unpleasant and unproductive conversation especially since I would prefer working with adolescents and teenagers. I may not be 100% comfortable talking about human sexuality with my clients providing that they are adolescents and teenagers since we do not have the same understanding about the matter, hence, my approach should be leveled to their stage of physical, social and emotional development and I should assure them that our discussions regarding certain matters are completely confidential especially if the matter concerned is about their sexual orientation. Regarding sexual dysfunctions, according to the study by Laumann, Paik and Rosen (1999), it is more dominant among women than among men as 43% for women and just 31% for men. Sexual dysfunctions was said to be associated with various demographic attributes, hence, it is present no matter how old a person is. The findings of the study stated that sexual dysfunctions can be caused by poor physical and emotional health, and negative encounters in sexual relationships and his or her total wellbeing (Laumann, et al., 1999). Sexual dysfunctions are described as disruptions in sexual desire and in the psychosocial changes connected with the sexual response cycle. It affects one's enjoyment of normal sex and their physiological changes caused by normal sexual arousal as it negatively reduce and prevent these tendencies (Spoor, 1999). Then there are also paraphilas where the causes of one's sexual excitement are nonhuman objects, suffering and non-consenting partners. These issues should be really hard to study as my principles will prevent my objectivism. Assessing these issues in a client will be challenging more than by talking about early sex activity, premarital sex and sexual orientation, hence, asking the client in a straightforward manner would not be effective, thus, my approach should be in a way that would not be offensive them. My definition of healthy and normal sexual activities would be based on Canadian Federation for Sexual Health (2008). From my perspective, it should help improve one's total quality of life, should provide pleasure, not be harmful, be consensual, and not cause any form of pain. The relationship between the two people should also be evaluated, hence, sexual activities is healthy if the relationship is equal, honest and respectful, it should also not make one feel bad about himself or herself, and finally, it should be in line with the values that they were taught. If I could no longer give the suitable help to the client, I would take that as a sign of the need to refer him or her to a sex specialist in order for him or her to acquire the help that he or she does really need. Moreover, I would also resign my case if no matter what I do, I could not establish a connection with the client. References Bancroft, J. (2002). Biological factors in human sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research. Canadian Federation for Sexual Health (2008). Are my sexual activities healthy and normal'. Retrieved December 12, 2008 from: http://www.cfsh.ca/Sexual_Health_Info/Your- Sexual-Health/Are-my-sexual-activities-healthy-and-normal.html Fallon Jr., L. F. (2002). Hermaphroditism. Retrieved December 12, 2008 from: http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/hermaphroditism-1 Hogben, M. & Byrne, D. (1998). Using social learning theory to explain individual differences in human sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research, (35) 1, 58-71. Kaiser Family Foundation (2005). US teen sexual activity. Retrieved December 12, 2008 from: http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/U-S-Teen-Sexual-Activity-Fact-Sheet.pdf Laumann, E. O., Paik, A. & Rosen, R. C. (1999). Sexual dysfunction in the United States: prevalence and predictors. Journal of American Medical Association, (281) 6, 537-1174. Molina, L. (1999). Human sexuality. Retrieved December 12, 2008 from: http://www.csun.edu/ 'vcpsy00h/students/sexual.htm Perloff, W. H. (1949). Role of the hormones in human sexuality. Psychosomatic Medicine, (11) 3, 133-139. Spoor, K. (1999). Types of disorders: sexual disorders. Retrieved December 12, 2008 from: http://www.purgatory.net/merits/sexual.htm Read More