Adolescent Male Sexuality: A Developmental Perspective

Abstract

Viewed from a developmental perspective, adolescent male sexuality is the time of transition from childhood experimentation to satisfactory adult sexuality. This transition is often difficult because of misinforma tion or lack of empirically accurate information about sexuality, cultural expectations of masculinity defined by gender roles, and differential parental and peer socialization of males from infancy through adoles cence. The quest for adult masculinity and sexuality for adolescent males is further complicated by a social context that exaggerates fears of femin ity and homophobia and that overlooks their sexual behavior in the areas of adolescent fatherhood and adolescent sexual offenders.