...Sexuality at Different Life Stages William Brown PSY/265 Axia College, University of Phoenix December 5, 2010 Raytonya Bennett Sexuality at Different Life Stages Sexuality is a topic that has drawn up many conversations from all types of individuals. The truth is that one’s sexuality develops as we as individuals mature. With that being said, there are various distinctive aspects that affect one’s sexual development and behavior (i.e. upbringing, religion, or even culture). In the paper there are three scenarios, all of them experiencing a different phase of life, which will ultimately bring forth different stages of sexuality, and I will then give viewpoints from a therapist perspective; this will in turn hopefully aid the individuals in making choices, as well as ways to overcome obstacles that are currently disturbing the individuals with expressing their own sexuality. Our first scenario involves Anna, an adolescent girl who is very much in love with her boyfriend; three years older than she is. He is putting a lot of pressure on her to have sex; and at the same time she is anxious about her parents’ attitude towards her boyfriend. Her mother constantly warns her about dating an older boy and assumes that he plans on taking advantage of her. As a professional I would begin educating Anna on the changes that her body is going through and how they effect her perceptions and emotional status. Anna is assumed to be in the adolescent stage which is filled with...
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...The adolescences stage is when you begin puberty and take on adult like responsibilities which leads to a heightened sex drive and surges of sex hormones. Anna is going through normal emotions about the feelings she has for her boyfriend regardless of the age and the pressure she is feeling about having sex with the guy she loves. I believe the best way for Anna to deal with this tough decision she is facing is understand sex and walk through the sexual decision-making process. The decision making process gives a guideline for working through to a reasonable conclusion. The steps for decision making are as follows: understand the decision that must be made, understand why it is needed, list different options for action, analyze the information understanding the positive and negative consequences, evaluate desirability of your choice, estimate the practicality of behavior and determine your conclusion. If Anna follows these steps then she will come to a sound decision about sex therefore she can clearly understand if she is ready. Anna must understand that her parents have her best interest and have a right to be concerned about her boyfriend’s age. What many adolescence do not understand is their parents are trying to lead them in the right direction even if it means being your enemy for a couple of years and though Anna may be in love with her boyfriend he mother knows that they are at two different stages in life and she does not want Anna to be a part of something before...
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...Sexuality at Different Life Stages Kimberly Hamsher PSY/265 April 13, 2014 Kimberly Hima Sexuality at Different Life Stages In the case of Ashley, I would assume her therapist would point out all the options she has before deciding if she wants to pursue a sexual relationship with her boyfriend. She should explain the variety of emotions an adolescent girl might feel when a boy or young man shows an interest in her. She should let her know that the word love can sometimes be displaced and confused with feelings such as lust, puppy love or even infatuation. She should let her know that for her young age, those are normal feelings and though they shouldn’t be taken lightly, they should also not be taken advantage of by someone who is older, a bit more mature and experienced. She should point out that while her boyfriend might be very genuine in his feelings for her, she should never feel pressured to have sex. As hard as it may be for him, her boyfriend should be patient and understanding of her feelings. If he is not, then maybe his intentions are not focused on her wishes, but rather what she can give him. She should let her know that the possible reasons her parents’ attitude towards her boyfriend are not just because of his age, it’s because with age comes experience. Her mother might assume he’ll take advantage of her and quite frankly, if he’s pressuring you, then he is. She should let her know that as parents’ we always want what’s best for our children. It’s our...
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...Sexuality at Different Life Stages PSY265 Axia College of University of Phoenix Different ages experience different levels of sexuality. Teenagers are often bombarded with hormones and new feelings all at once, making responsible decision making harder than it already is. Elderly couples have seemingly passed their prime and may worry about health issues and physical ailments regarding their sexual performance. Those who are paralyzed might be thinking they cannot possibly have a normal sex life because of their disability. These three scenarios are all possibly scenarios that could be taken to a therapist. Consider Anna. She is an adolescent girl who loves her boyfriend. He is three years older than she is and putting quite a bit of pressure on Anna to have sex. She is anxious over her parent’s attitude towards her boyfriend and her mother often warns her about dating an older boy, insinuating he intends to take advantage of Anna. Anna is at the age where her hormones and physical features are all happening very quickly (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, 2005) . Not only is her boyfriend pressuring her but peer pressure is having an effect on what she thinks she wants. It is important for Anna to understand that her hormones WILL even out and she will not feel like this forever. It might be appropriate to mention that Anna’s mother is only thinking of Anna, though she may be displaying her concern in a way that comes out critical instead of worrisome. Anna...
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...Spermeo and Egette are from totally different worlds, but their sole purpose for creation is to meet up together so that they can become one and form a human being with many more little Spermettes and Eggettes in their futures. This is all done in the land of reproduction, where they must mature in their separate homelands before the two become one. Spermeo’s homeland is in a place called Testes, and Eggette’s homeland is called Ovary. Their worlds are far apart, but by happenstance, they will one day get a chance to meet one another. Once they both reach the land of reproduction at the optimum time, the cycle called life will begin. Spermeo is created in Testes along with thousand others just like him at one time. The land of Testes churns about 30 billion Spermeos per year. This greatly increases the odds of Spermeo coming into contact with Egette, but Spermeo is determined to fulfill his purpose in life with Egette. Before Spermeo is mature enough to leave home, he has a process he must go through to be able to penetrate Eggette when they meet, as they have only one opportunity to do so successfully. His creation starts in Testes which is actually a production plant that houses machines called interstitial cells, testosterone/other hormones, and seminiferous tubules. These machines all work together to produce the best Spermeos possible. Going through the testosterone machine is one of the most important processes for Spermeos because it determines if there will...
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...the psychological state of mind in which a person identifies with being male or female. A person’s anatomic sex does not always match with how they perceive themself as a sexual being. Hence, an anatomic male may feel as though he is a female trapped in a male’s body. Determining gender identity is one of the most obvious and important aspects in the development of self-concepts (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, 2011). The three factors that have been utilized in my own life to determine my personal gender identity will be detailed as well as the masculine and feminine traits using the continuum of masculinity-femininity that I attribute to my gender. The factors that are included in determining gender identity are; genetic, environmental, and psychological as well as levels of sex hormones. At the point of the fertilization from the sperm and the ovum the chromosomal combination of 23 provided by the male along with the 23 provided by the female create the beginning of life called the zygote. Although this life form is only 1/175 of an inch its unique characteristics have been determined, the color of hair, eyes, along with the anatomical sex. Five to six weeks into development the embryo’s primitive gonads, ducts, as well as external genitalia has been formed although cannot yet visually been seen. At six weeks the sexual structures resemble that of a female, at seven weeks the (XX or XY) genetic code becomes more assertive creating further development and changes to the embryos...
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...In Anna’s situation where she is in love and her boyfriend who is three years older than her, it is important that Anna makes the right decisions in her sexual relationship. Just because she is in love with her boyfriend does not mean that they have to have sex. Anna has many things to consider before having sex. A birth control method is important to have before you have sex. With her boyfriend being three years older there is a chance that he has had a sexual partner in the past and it might be important for Anna to have her first experience with someone who has not had sex yet. Her boyfriend could also have an STI if he has been sexually active. Anna’s parents are concerned with the bigger picture that Anna does not see. Anna is in the moment and is not thinking about the emotional side of sex and she is not thinking about outcomes that can occur from having sex. Anna could get pregnant or contract an STI. Anna will always remember the first sexual relationship that she has and she needs to do what she can to make her first sexual experience a healthy experience. It would be wise for Anna to go to a public health department or to her doctor, discuss birth control methods and decide on one and have her boyfriend get tested for any STI’s before engaging in sexual activity. This gives Anna time to think about the decision to have sex because even when using condoms it is important to be on another type of birth control because condoms can break. By Anna...
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...Critical Thinking and Sexual Decision Making Ruth Lees PSY/265 Version 4 05/02/2014 James Ippolito Critical Thinking and Sexual Decision Making When I first started having sex there was no critical thinking involved in my life. I think I was trying to get back at my dad, and the thought was I did not need him for anything, and especially not for sex. I went to comptometer school and met a girl who was very sexual, and she brought to school a long fat candy cane to show what she used when she did not have a guy to satisfy her. She handed it to me, (it was wrapped in plastic) and when I handed it back I dropped it on the floor and it broke. The rage that came from this girl scared me, and I think that is the first critical thinking I ever did to choose my friends wisely. I never wanted to think I needed to depend on a thing other than a person to satisfy me. There was a college bar that I went to every week-end to dance and drink. In my day, they had 3.2 beers that if you were 18-21 you could buy. I did not critically think during those times, I loved to dance, so I did not drink much. But I did end up going home with a couple of different guys, just not every weekend. I am lucky I did not get pregnant, because I do not remember any of the guys wearing a condom. My critical thinking began when my girls were the dating age, and I tried to relate to them that I understood what dilemmas they were facing. But I was mom and they did not want to hear...
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...Assignment: Sexuality at Different Life Stages PSY/265 April 10, 2011 Assignment: Sexuality at Different Life Stages Age, race, and a patient’s background are just three of many criteria that a therapist(s) or psychologist(s) need to address during therapy sessions. All patients will provide some personal information about themselves; this information along with information that therapists have learned while earning their degree is instrumental in helping a patient return to a healthier stage in life that is conducive to the patient's well being. In Anna’s case, successful therapy will give her mother some semblance of peace of mind. All of the therapy in the world, however, will not rid Anna’s father of his worry and nightmares about Anna’s boyfriend. Very few fathers will be at peace when their adolescent daughter(s) are dating a boy. Fathers are of the mind that there is no boy that is good enough for their daughter, nor can the boy be trusted. As the gather of two young girls, the author can attest to that. With that being said, it is time to address Anna’s problem; or is it the problem her parents face. Anna is in love, or like many adolescent girls and boys, believes she is in love with a boy that is three years older than she is. Many, if not all adolescent boys that are older than their girlfriends, attempt to have sexual relations with them and this is due in part to pressure, and due in part to the age difference, boys normally succeed. Pressure can...
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...Introduction Human sexuality plays a major role in everyone’s life, it aides in the definition of who we are and what we do and is the way in which we experience and express ourselves as sexual beings (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2010) Human sexuality; different from that of force driven animal instinct, is directed by a variety of different complex factors. Due to the complexity of human sexuality there has been much done by the way of research, theory and model development from past researchers such as Sigmund Freud, Henry Havelock Ellis, Alfred Kinsey, and the team of Masters and Johnson (King, 2012). This paper will explore some of the current contributors of research as well as factors leading to the development of human sexuality based upon: the biological perspective, gender identity and roles, sexual orientation, as well as the relation between these terms. Development of Human Sexuality Human sexuality is indeed the way in which we experience as well as express ourselves as sexual beings (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2010). Many theories have been developed regarding the development one’s gender identity and human sexuality; however it is argued that the most important factor to consider is our actual gender (DeLamater & Friedrich, 2002). Sigmund Freud’s “Freudian Theory” is based on the fact that each stage in life brings new milestones for human sexual development (King, 2012, p. 207). In the first year of life Freud believed that due to the occurrence...
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...adult neurotic behaviour. Having done this I will examine some of the criticisms that have been levelled at Freudian theory in order to evaluate it. In 1905 Freud published ‘Three Essays on the theory of Sexuality and other Works’, one of those essays was titled ‘Infantile Sexuality’. In this essay Freud sets out his theory of psychosexual development. He asserts that there is in all humans an innate drive or instinct for pleasure, a sort of psychic energy, which he calls the libido and this energy needs to be discharged. He then goes on to describe how this drive finds outlet at the earliest stages of life, as babies, toddlers and infants and describes the oral, anal and phallic stages and the psychological effects of fixation at these stages. It is important to note that Freud separated sexual aims and objectives. His work on sexuality and perversions led to the wider theory of sexuality whereby he differentiated the sexual aim (the desire for pleasure) and the object (the person or thing used to fulfil the desire). He asserted that sexuality is more than just genital copulation between adults and this work is the background to his theory on infantile sexuality. He emphasised particular erogenous zones as being of primary importance at different stages of infancy. Each stage impacts in three significant ways: physical focus where the child’s energy may be concentrated and their gratification obtained; psychologically through demands being made of the child by the outside world...
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...Case Study – Introduction The topic of our case study centers on the stage of emerging adulthood, a stage our classmates are currently experiencing. The focus of the study is centered on college students and the relationships they may develop in relations to alcohol consumption. Our participant is a 23 year old woman (KH) . She has attended three colleges in her academic college career, which includes one year at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, one year at the University of Wisconsin Madison and two years and current attendance at Edgewood College. She currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin and is pursuing a career in nursing. KH grew up in New Berlin, Wisconsin in a middle class family. We decided in further researching this topic because it’s something that we are currently experiencing and feel it is important to illustrate to younger generations that aging is a natural and unavoidable part of our journey through life that we need to accept and embrace with grace and respect. It is true that many undesirable changes take place as we get older, especially in late adulthood, but as I will share through my study, it can also be the most satisfying and content stage of a person’s life. The way the world perceives aging adults varies from society to society. In many parts of the world the older a person becomes the more important their role becomes in their family as well as in society. In the United States we seem to associate old age with negative feelings...
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...Different psychiatrists have observed individuals for the development of personality. Each has resolved a view based on those observations. They have often been quite different from each other. Those differences lead to a completely different interpretation of adult behavior and its meanings. In addition, they separate theory based on what is most important to the psychiatrist. The development of personality is how an individual becomes that individual (Gerson, 1994). It includes the “stable and enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving” (Gerson, 1994, 2). Character forms by resolving conflicts of drives and tensions, and the pressures to conform and socialize. Psychoanalytic models of personality integrate innate predispositions with the environment and its impact. In these theories, parents act as models for ego, ego-ideal and superego. Introjection and identification are basic processes. The child develops partially based on the parents’ characteristics, and the ways in which conflicts with the parents are resolved. The stages in the child’s life when the interactions with parents take place area also part of the process. Sigmund Freud attached a sexual perspective to the entire human psyche (Gerson, 1994). He defined three components of a person: the id, the ego, and the superego. The conflicts between the three parts often conflicts, creating personality. When the conflicts are not treated, neuroses occur. Each person also has two drives or instincts that are...
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...the middle and upper class whites were moving out, new immigrants and lower-class workers were moving in. This new, ethnically diverse population lived in tightly packed conditions referred to by many as slums. Beyond the cramped tenements and unsanitary living conditions that existed, the slums had much more to offer. Here existed an array of nightlife attractions including “red-light” districts, saloons, dance halls, nightclubs, cabarets and opium dens. What made these areas so much more exhilarating was the fact that the middle and upper class used them to travel beyond the borders of their own neighborhoods and unveil their sexual curiosities through the nightlife of the slums. According to Heap, the conceptualization of sexuality, race, and urban life was altered through this act of slumming, in which the higher class people stepped beyond their boundaries into the world of the lower class and engaged in behavior far more experimental than the more conservative lifestyle that people were used to. Heap divides his book into two general sections. The first focuses mainly on the spatial organization and cultural geography of slumming, as well as the attempt to regulate and police the slumming activities. He argues that it truly began after industrialization when the upper and middle class moved to the suburbs so that the cities became where the poorer people lived. For them, the benefits of the slums were that they were central locations near work, the rent was low, and it...
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...Vyas Professor Sircar 10/08/2014 Overview of Freudian Theories on Dreams and Sexuality In every intellectual field, there are those few individuals who shed light on new ways of thinking the status quo and ultimately having a profound and influential impact lasting generations independent of whether their work is agreed upon by scholars or simply a popular topic of conversation. Considering psychology and more specifically psychoanalysis, which is concerned with those factors that determine human emotions and behavior that individuals are often unaware of, there is no one more influential than the Austrian neurologist and the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. In creating psychoanalytic theory, Freud himself developed various therapeutic methods to establish his central thought process. His analysis of dreams, outlined in his famous work, The Interpretation of Dreams, provided a framework that was used for clinical analysis and diagnosis. He redefined sexuality in his work, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, and formulated the concept of the Oedipus complex. Although Freud’s work dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he is still relevant and his theories equivocally influential. In this essay, I will outline Freud’s key ideas with regards to dreams and sexuality as seen in his famous works, The Interpretation of Dreams, and Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality as well as provide a critical background on both themes along with a assessment...
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