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Essay on Sexual Interactions between Siblings
There is little agreement in US society about what is age-appropriate sexual behavior for children, except that it must not be abusive. Researcher Loretta Haroian writes that the mental health community has a poorly defined concept of sexual health. It attempts to serve those who experience sexual pathology, but the definition of sexual pathology often fails to consider the broad range of human sexual activity and its developmental aspects.
Most parents seem to agree that the socialization of young children should inhibit sexual impulses toward family members and peers. Parents control information (using closed bedroom doors, separate sleeping arrangements for each child, separate bathing, and early modesty training) to keep dormant the young child's curiosity and to limit sexual activity.
Haroian writes that children are subject to the values of their parents and advises parents to be clear about their rules without burdening the child with fear and guilt. In addition, children may need protection from the liability of sexual contracts. She writes that this does not suggest that there is inherent harm in sexual expression in childhood; in fact, there is considerable evidence to the contrary.That is, she makes a distinction between social appropriateness or morality on the one hand, and harmfulness on the other.
Freud's 1905 work Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality outlined a theory of psychosexual development with five distinct phases: the oral stage (0 - 1.5 years), the anal stage (1.5 - 3.5 years), the phallic stage (3.5 - 6 years) culminating in the resolution of the Oedipus conflict followed by a period of sexual latency (6 years to puberty) and the genital, or adult, stage. Freud's basic thesis was that children's early sexuality is polymorphous and that strong incestual drives develop, and the child must harness or sublimate these to develop a healthy adult sexuality......
