Child sex games - this is the stage of development of human sexuality, referring to the period of child sexuality . Children's sex games reveal the behavioral aspect of child sexuality and are quite widespread among children aged 3-7 years [1] [2] . Child sex games are also a form of the formation of a person’s gender identity [3] . The observed manifestations of child sex games are extensive and include sexual activities with puppets, other children, mutual demonstrations, and also imitation of sexual intercourse [1] .
There are few empirical data on child sexual development, they are mostly obtained from adults - by observation or retrospectively. Ideas about the manifestations of child sexuality, in particular, children's sex games, are debatable [4] .
Content
Description
According to the results of various studies, from 45 [5] to 85 [6] percent of children are involved in sexual games at preschool and younger school age. It is believed that sex games with other children are part of socialization and the continuation of the game with their genitals [7] . Games typically occur with friends of the same or different gender.
Subjectively, children do not perceive such games as erotic or sexual, because at a given age they are not capable of differentiating sexual arousal from the character of another physical excitement (for example, children often describe sensations of touching the genitals as tickling), and are not capable of developing a conceptual concept of sexuality that does not allow to carry sexual activities in the field of intimacy.
Types of sex games for children
The content of children's sex games may vary depending on the historical time span and society, since game plots are borrowed from culture.
The extreme degree of manifestation may be a taboo on joint sibling games, which is observed in the Samoan tribes (according to the ethnographic studies of childhood by Margaret Mead [8] ). Since the age of 9, brothers and sisters are forbidden to eat together, sit together, easily communicate with each other. This prohibition continues during adulthood and into extreme old age, when they will no longer be embarrassed in the presence of each other [8] .
In European culture, the following contents of children's sex games stand out:
- Games with dolls , where the child develops a plot with sexual overtones. Often, they contain the playback of stereotypical family relationships, in addition, the history of betrayal, the plots of abduction, the development of relations between the boss and the subordinate, and other fantasy plots taken from a child observed in the adult world. In this case, the selected dolls can be of the opposite or one sex, for the child the unfolding sequence of actions and the development of the storyline is more significant, which further proves the absence of true sexual meaning in children's sex games.
- Plot-role-playing games , at any stage of which there are sexual elements. The most common plot is playing a doctor, where one child takes on the role of a doctor or nurse, and the other becomes a patient. The essence of the game is to examine the patient's body, and the plot - the foundation that makes these actions permissible [6] . Also common are family games, where, in addition to playing along with the role structure of the family, scenes of sexual intercourse can be imitated.
- Demonstration games based on the principle “show me yours and I will show what I have” [1] : joint undressing and examining the body of another that do not require any roles.
After 6/7-year-olds, sex games become less noticeable for adults. However, they do not come to naught, rather, the general level of development, and, in particular, the level of development of consciousness and arbitrariness, leading to an understanding of cultural norms, complicates the behavior of children and allows them to perform such actions secretly from their parents.
Motives and goals of child sex games
Motives of children's attention to the body, genitals and actions performed with them are curiosity, cognitive and research interest [9] . The purpose of this behavior is the acquisition of knowledge. In addition, actions to imitate adults become significant motives. The severity of child sexuality and the frequency of sexual games depends on the overall sexual tension that exists in a family context [10] . Also an important social motive is the child’s desire to take on the role of an adult, which serves the task of orientation in social relations [11] . Child sex games coincide with the heyday of role-playing games that are important for the mental development of the child as a whole, and are built with the same logic.
Influence of children's sex games on development
According to the results of retrospective and longitudinal studies, involvement in sexual games played in childhood does not have a subsequent impact on sexual behavior [2] , psychological well-being [12] [13] and social adaptation of a person [13] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Master U., Johnson V., Kolodni R. Osnovy seksologii / Trans. from English N. Fomina, Yu. Morozov and others. Ed. N. Fanchenko. - M .: Mir, 1998. - 692 p.
- ↑ 1 2 John DeLamater, William N. Friedrich. Human sexual development // The Journal of Sex Research. - 2002-02-01. - V. 39 , no. 1 . - p . 10–14 . - ISSN 0022-4499 . - DOI : 10.1080 / 00224490209552113 .
- ↑ Kon I.S. Introduction to sexology. - M .: Medicine, 1988. - 320 p. - ISBN 5-225-100129-7.
- ↑ The Continuum of Sexuality / Ed .: Noonan RJ, Francoeur RT - The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. - 1440 p. - ISBN 0-8264-1488-5 .
- ↑ AC Kinsey, WB Pomeroy, CE Martin. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. - Philadelphia: PA: WB Saunders, 1948. - ISBN 0-253-33412-8 .
- 2 1 2 Lamb S., Coakley M. Normally differentiating play from abuse // Child Abuse & Neglect. - 1993. - April. - pp . 67-84 . - DOI : 10.1016 / 0145-2134 (93) 90026-2 .
- ↑ Brilleslijper-Kater SN, Baartman HEM Aging of 2 and 6 Years // Child Abuse Review. - 2000. - September. - p . 166-182 .
- ↑ 1 2 Mid Margaret. Culture and the world of childhood. Selected Works / Trans. Yu.A. Aseeva, ed. IN AND. Belikov, responsible. Editor I.S. Kon - M .: Science, 1988.
- ↑ Kagan V.E. The teacher of sexology. - Moscow: Pedagogy, 1991. - ISBN 5-7155-0424-4 .
- ↑ Martel V. Sexuality, love and gestalt. - SPb .: Speech, 2006. - 192 p. - ISBN 5-9268-0481-7 .
- ↑ Elkonin D. B. Psychology of the game. - 2nd. - M .: Humanit. ed. Center VLADOS, 1999. - 360 p. - ISBN 5-691-00256-2 .
- ↑ Evan Greenwald, Harold Leitenberg. Long-term effects of sexual experiences with siblings and nonsiblings during childhood (Eng.) // Archives of Sexual Behavior. - 1989-10-01. - Vol. 18 , iss. 5 - p . 389–399 . - DOI : 10.1007 / BF01541971 .
- ↑ 1 2 Paul Okami, Richard Olmstead, Paul R. Abramson. Sexual experiences in early childhood: 18-Year longitudinal data from the UCLA family lifestyles project // The Journal of Sex Research. - 1997-01-01. - T. 34 , no. 4 - pp . 339–347 . - ISSN 0022-4499 . - DOI : 10.1080 / 00224499709551902 .
See also
- Child sexuality
- Child masturbation