MAJOR TASKS AND STAGES IN SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Individual Development
Age / Physical / Emotional / Social / Intellectual / Moral/Ethical / Cultural/Societal
Birth to 2 years /
  • Comfort/discomfort
  • Physical response to sexual stimulation erection and lubrication masturbation
/
  • Trust/mistrust
  • Self-centered
  • Self-love
  • Capacity for pleasure/discomfort
/
  • Primarily with family
  • Some fear of strangers
  • Likes audience
/
  • Imitating others
/
  • Primarily through parental influence

3 years to 4 years /
  • Total body exploration including genitals
  • Toilet training – muscle control
  • Masturbation
/ Begin:
  • Gender identification
  • Need to achieve
  • Self esteem
  • Self doubt-shame
  • Self control
/
  • Force used to get way
  • Sex role concepts
  • Begin to explore with others
  • Enjoys receiving affection – returns affection
  • Less fear of strangers
/
  • Sense of success/failure begins
  • Language-names for body parts
  • Begin to recognize male/female differences and similarities
  • Reassurance regarding own genitals
/
  • Begin sense of right and wrong
  • Non-sexual developments will provide names and judgments for later encounters with sexuality
/
  • General acceptance of limited nudity in public

5 years to 7 years /
  • Genital manipulation
  • Explore
  • Pleasure
  • Relieve tension
/
  • Begin sense of guilt
  • Initiative
/
  • Exploration, curiosity
  • Basic skills for interpersonal relationships
  • Begin same sex parent identification
  • Begin autonomy
  • Assert self as individual
  • Reinforce sexual identity – gender roles
/
  • Concepts of marriage and relationships
  • Vocabulary building – “dirty words”
  • Begin differential thinking – sex differences
/
  • Values and attitudes toward opposite sex begin to develop
/
  • General society beginning to have impact – parents will together

8 years to 11 years /
  • 8 years, gradual build-up of testosterone and estrogen
  • 10-11 years, dramatic increase in long bone growth begins
/
  • Modesty
  • Begin sexual daydreaming and fantasy
/
  • Identify with same sex, parent and peer
  • Ambivalent feelings for opposite sex
  • Rehearsing social skills
  • Give and take in relationship
/
  • Understand social significance of sexual behavior
  • Vocabulary, new names
  • Questions – more detailed, less personal
/
  • Internal urges vs demands of external world
  • Begin decision-making independence
/
  • Influences: parents, peers, school, observing others, etc.
  • Heterosexual activity considered improper

Age / Physical / Emotional / Social / Intellectual / Moral/Ethical / Cultural/Societal
12 years to 18 years /
  • Body changes – rapid, hormones up and down
  • Nocturnal emissions, ejaculations
  • Menstruation – capable of conceiving
  • Females generally mature two years earlier
  • Masturbation may occur with ------
/
  • Guilt/anxiety
  • Great emotional swings
  • Learn to accept adult body size and shape
  • New emotions-arousal
------fantasies /
  • Begin separation from parents
  • Social relationships more complex because of sexual context
  • Competition/comparing
  • Peer influence
  • Reputation/approval
  • Practice adult roles
  • Continue ambivalence toward opposite sex
  • “Sampling” mature attachments
  • Relationships more intense, longer dating
  • Hero worship
/
  • Past experiences gain new meaning
  • Vocabulary gains new meanings
  • Aware of consequences
  • Curiosity
  • More external influences
  • More explicit, less general
/
  • Concern with values and morals rather than biology
  • Testing beliefs and values
  • Conflicts
  • Say yes or no to sexual expression
/
  • Pressure to complete education and get a job
  • New roles for men and women may cause confusion
  • Be sexual but do not have sex (strong taboos)
  • Media influence strong

Adult /
  • General health important
  • “Middle age” response less frequent, more intense
/
  • Shed earlier feelings of guilt, repression
/
  • Interested and interesting partner
/
  • “Unlearn” myths and fallacies
/
  • Get married
  • Be a parent

Older Adult /
  • General health
  • Males – orgasm without ejaculation
  • Longer to achieve erection
  • Females – lose ability to conceive
/
  • Self concept may be affected by “retirement”
/ /
  • Continue need for more and new information
/
  • Considered no longer sexual
  • Death of spouse