Top

Sexuality Research and Social Policy

Published in:

18-02-2022

Putting the “Comprehensive” in Comprehensive Sexuality Education: a Review Exploring Young Adult Literature as a School-based Intervention

Authors: Margaret M. Palmer, Jennifer S. Hirsch

Published in: Sexuality Research and Social Policy | Issue 4/2022

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Introduction

In this article, we review research on the impact of young adult literature (YAL) on young people’s sexuality-related beliefs. This research points to the potential of YAL as a tool through which schools can offer sex education that is truly “comprehensive” by providing young people an opportunity to grapple with questions about gender, sexuality, and healthy relationships in literature classes, and to complement CSE in health education classes. This broader approach addresses a potential limitation of school-based comprehensive sex education (CSE). CSE certainly promotes young people’s health and well-being, but an emphasis on biological dimensions of sexual and reproductive health to the exclusion of social factors, or insufficient time to address social dimensions of sexual and reproductive health, can fail to amplify or even undermine CSE messages about healthy relationships and sexuality.

Methods

This scoping review examined research on YAL dealing with dating and relationships, gender role development, LGBTQ life, sexuality, sexual behaviors, and sexual health outcomes in Communications Abstracts, ERIC, MEDLINE, MLA International Bibliography, and PsycINFO databases. The search, run in December 2020, returned 265 articles, of which 18 were empirical studies of YAL and sexuality that met inclusion criteria for the review. Each included study was examined to identify the books’ impacts and the methodological approach to assessing those impacts.

Conclusions

Existing research suggests that YAL in the classroom can affect discourses on masculinity, femininity, violence, sexual health, and LGBTQ life. Bringing YAL into different classroom settings has the potential to be a powerful force in integrated CSE.

Policy Implications

Using YAL in a variety of classroom settings, including but not limited to health and English Language Arts, will strengthen the comprehensive aspects of CSE.

previous article Employment Loss as a Result of COVID-19: a Nationwide Survey at the Onset of COVID-19 in US LGBTQ+ Populations

next article Sexual Pleasure Matters (Especially for Women) — Data from the German Sexuality and Health Survey (GeSiD)

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Adeyemi, T. (2018). Children of blood and bone. Henry Holt and Co.

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. Farrar Straus Giroux.

Aronian, K. R. (2015). Birds, bees, and the young adult novel: Inquiries into English and sexual literacies [EdD]. Columbia University.

Batchelor, K. E., Ramos, M., & Neiswander, S. (2018). Opening doors: Teaching LGBTQ-themed young adult literature for an inclusive curriculum. The Clearing House, 91(1), 29–36.CrossRef

Beck, S. A., Walker-DeVose, D., Agnich, L. E., Town, C., & Smith, T. (2017). Progress and backlash in the wake of Obergefell: Reaching conservative southern teachers through the power of literature. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 12(2), 170–194.

Behrman, E. H. (2006). Teaching about language, power, and text: A review of classroom practices that support critical literacy. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49(6), 490–498.CrossRef

Blackburn, M. V., & Clark, C. T. (2011). Analyzing talk in a long-term literature discussion group: Ways of operating within LGBT inclusive and queer discourses. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(3), 22–248.CrossRef

Bowles-Reyer, A. (1998). Our secret garden: American popular young adult literature in the 1970s and the transmission of sexual and gender ideology to adolescent girls [PhD, Women’s Studies]. George Washington University.

Brendler, B. M. (2014). Diversity in literary response: Revisiting gender expectations. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 55(3), 223–240.

Brozo, W. G., Walter, P. W., & Placker, T. (2002). “I know the difference between a real man and a TV man”: A critical exploration of violence and masculinity through literature in a junior high school in the hood. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(6), 530–538.

CDC. (2016). Results from the school health policies and practices study (School Health Policies and Practices Study, p. 104). CDC.

CDC. (2021). Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT): Overview (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool, p. 16). CDC.

CDC. (2020). What works: Sexual health education. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 27, 2021. (https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/whatworks/what-works-sexual-health-education.htm)

de Leon, C. (2017). Engaging adolescents in mental health discussions through young adult literature: A literature review. Q Space, 11, 4–13.

Eggleston, C., & Fields, J. (2021). Homeschooling on the rise during COVID-19 pandemic: Census Bureau’s Household Pulse survey shows significant increase in homeschooling rates in fall 2020. Census Bureau.

Ellis, S. E. (2021). Teachers’ perceptions of using young adult literature as a catalyst to discuss social justice in Mississippi classrooms. PhD, Philosophy. University of Mississippi.

Fields, J. (2008). Risky lessons: Sex education and social inequality. Rutgers University Press.

Godina, H., & Soto-Ramirez, C. (2017). Emergent gender roles within tween popular culture: Perspectives from Mexican American students in a fifth-grade classroom. Journal of Latinos and Education, 16(2), 98–109.CrossRef

Goldfarb, E. S., & Lieberman, L. D. (2021). Three decades of research: The case for comprehensive sex education. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 13–27.CrossRef

Hayn, J. A., Clemmons, K. R., & Olvey, H. A. (2016). Fostering inclusion of disabled youth through young adult literature: Action research with wonder. Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature, 1(2), 64–78.

Hsieh, B. (2012). Challenging characters: Learning to reach inward and outward from characters who face oppression. The English Journal, 102(1), 48–51.

Hughes, J., & Laffier, J. L. (2016). Portrayals of bullying in young adult literature: Considerations for schools. Canadian Journal of Education, 39(3), 1–24.

Malo-Juvera, V. (2013). The effect of young adult literature on adolescents’ rape myth acceptance. EdD, Curriculum and Instruction. Florida International University.

Mariani-Petroze, C. C. (2006). The influences of adolescent literature on young women’s gender identity development [EdD]. University of Kentucky.

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. Little, Brown, and Company.

Munson-Warnken, M. (2017). The high cost of “girl books” for young adolescent boys. The Reading Teacher, 70(5), 583–593.CrossRef

NSES. (2020). National sex education standards: core content and skills, K-12, 2nd edition (p. 72). Future of Sex Education.

Oldham, L. E. (2019). “A hairbrush is not a gun”: Narratives and counternarratives of race, power, and identity in young adult literature. PhD, Curriculum and Instruction. New Mexico State University.

Parsons, L. T. (2016). Learning from preservice teachers’ responses to trans-themed young adult literature: Improving personal practice in teacher education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37(6), 933–947.

Pascoe, C. J. (2011). Dude, you’re a fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school (2nd ed.). University of California.

Patton, G. C., Sawyer, S. M., Santelli, J. S., Ross, D. A., Afifi, R., Allen, N. B., Arora, M., & Azzopardi, P. (2016). Our future: A Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. The Lancet, 387(10036), 2423–2478.CrossRef

Schieble, M. B. (2010). Reading between the lines of reader response: Constructing “the other” through the aesthetic stance. Changing English, 17(4), 375–384.CrossRef

Schultheis, C. (1990). A study of the relationship between gender and reading preferences in adolescents. Masters of Library Sciences. Kent State University.

Sciurba, K. (2014). Texts as mirrors, texts as windows: Black adolescent boys and the complexities of textual relevance. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(4), 308–316.CrossRef

Sex Education Collaborative. (2018). Professional learning standards for sex education (pp. 1–8).

Sprague, M. M., & Risher, L. (2002). Using fantasy literature to explore gender issues. ALAN Review, 29, 39–42.CrossRef

Sucharew, H., & Macaluso, M. (2019). Methods for research evidence synthesis: The scoping review approach. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 14(7), 416–418.CrossRefPubMed

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. Balzer & Bray.

Young, J. P. (2000). Boy talk: Critical literacy and masculinity. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(3), 312–337.CrossRef

Title: Putting the “Comprehensive” in Comprehensive Sexuality Education: a Review Exploring Young Adult Literature as a School-based Intervention
Authors: Margaret M. Palmer
Jennifer S. Hirsch
Publication date: 18-02-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Sexuality Research and Social Policy / Issue 4/2022
Print ISSN: 1868-9884
Electronic ISSN: 1553-6610
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00699-7

Springer Professional

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Conclusions

Policy Implications

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Other articles of this Issue 4/2022

The Effect of an Education Program on Iranian Mothers’ Self-efficacy in Child Sex Education: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Sexual Minority Stigma and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Sexual Minorities: the Mediating Roles of Sexual Orientation Concealment, Self-Criticism, and Depression

Beliefs About the Need to Control One’s Thoughts and Cognitive Self-consciousness Are Associated with Sexual Stigma

“Far More Than a Deal”: Sexual and Gender Minorities’ Experiences of the Rental Housing Market in Hong Kong

The Nature and Impact of Informal Mental Health Support in an LGBTQ Context: Exploring Peer Roles and Their Challenges

“Pattern Matters”: a Latent Class Analysis of Internet Use and Users’ Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in China