Sexual Abstinence

This qualitative study sought to understand the perceptions and experiences of abstinence among young Christians in a University in South Africa. Willingness to adhere to Christian teachings of sexual chastity is the primary motivation for sexual abstinence while spiritual, mental and physical health benefits of abstinence as well as enforcement of Christian teachings by members and peers are secondary motivations that help sustain sexual abstinence. Sexual pressures come from desire to satisfy sexual urge, subtle coercion, peer pressure, momentary loss of self-control. There is need for multi-pronged interventions aimed at empowering Christian youth to deal with sources of sexual pressures.

This paper describes the Promoting Alternatives for Teen Health through Artes Teatro (PATH-AT) program, a peer-led, after-school, abstinence-based education intervention, targeting Latino/a youth at risk for teenage pregnancy and their parents. A distinguishing trait of the program is the use of theater arts to engage program participants with program content.

This study outlines the history and theology of the traditional practice of abstaining from conjugal relations as a means of preparing for reception of Communion by married Christians. The historical component of this study  covers evidence from the early Christian period to the Roman Catechism of the 16th Century. This study grounds the evidence in key passages from Hebrew Scriptures and the general role of abstinence in Christian life.

This thesis analyses images of male saints defending their chastity against transgressive women. The studied images were produced in post-Tridentine Italy – a period when Catholic dogma, through Church reform, emphasised the superiority of the virginal state and the danger of carnal desire. The rule of mandatory celibacy for the clergy was one of the questions discussed during the Council of Trent, the chief movement of the Catholic Reformation (1545-1563). Critical voices regarding the Catholic Church’s lack of control and strictness towards the sexual misconducts repeatedly performed by their clergy were raised both within the Church and by their Protestant opponents. When the Catholics, unlike the Protestants, reaffirmed the rule of compulsory clerical celibacy, the essential importance of sexual abstinence was accentuated by confirming its connection to the true Christian doctrine.

The thesis aims to examine, firstly, how the temptation episodes are communicated visually for them to function as a promotion for the reformed Catholic Church, and secondly, how the images reflect the current attitude towards gender and sexuality. The study's visual source material consists of paintings, drawings and engravings of temptation scenes from the lives of St. Anthony the Great, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Jerome, St. Philip Neri, St. Thomas of Aquinas and St. Eligius. The images are seen as cultural and religious expressions of their time and are studied in close connection with their textual sources, e.g. the hagiographies of the saints, and are approached through an iconographic reading. For critical perspectives and material information, the examination is further conducted with the support of fields outside art history; theology, gender studies and history.

The result shows that images of carnal temptation were not only increasingly produced during the sixteenth century, but also addressed to expanding audiences of laymen and not just monks and priests. I argue that the reaffirmation of the importance of chastity played an essential role in the introduction and elaboration of new temptation imagery. The images of tempted, yet withstanding, male saints served to promote the heightened sexual morality of the post-Tridentine Church. By presenting the female sex as an immediate danger to the patriarchal order, the motifs uncover a long established misogyny. The images show a Catholic male ideal where masculinity was defined by exemplarily mastered flesh. The observation that the pictured events solely present male saints underlines that such grace is exclusively masculine. The Catholic Church's attitude towards sexuality as well as its patriarchal power structure, give the artworks a clear symbolic meaning: when a man manages to overcome the desires of the flesh, he transforms his passion into a spiritual desire that is satisfied through the love of God.

Past research on first sexual intercourse experiences and virginity has largely focused on using demographics such as age at first intercourse as predictors of future sexual behaviors and beliefs. Carpenter ( 2002 , 2005 ) suggested a model of three virginity metaphors that describe how individuals perceive their virginity: gift, stigma, and process. Using Carpenter's framework as a starting point, scale items were developed based on the conceptual understanding of the three metaphors. In Study 1 (N = 223, mean age = 19.9, SD = 2.4), 50 items were factor analyzed, yielding 22 items found to be strong indicators of the three metaphors; ten items for gift, eight for stigma, and four for process. The three subscales were validated using measures of gender-role beliefs and affective reactions to first intercourse. In Study 2 (N = 359, mean age = 19.7, SD = 2.4), confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the 22-item factor breakdown. The resulting Virginity Beliefs Scale is discussed in terms of how it applies to Carpenter's original framework and its future research potential.

The object of this study was to investigate frequency of the unconsummated marriages and its clinical characteristics among the subjects who referred to a sexual dysfunction clinic in Turkey. Four hundred and forty-nine unconsummated marriage cases were evaluated among 1880 subjects referred to Acibadem Sexual Health Clinic, Istanbul, between December 2000 and December 2004. Unconsummated marriage rose from the female partner in 67% of the cases, 7% males, and 26% both. Vaginismus was the most prominent cause in 81% of the cases, erectile dysfunction in 10.5%, premature ejaculation in 5%. Previous reports from Eastern societies including Turkey indicate higher incidences of premature ejaculation and vaginismus than the Western world which underline a strong cultural influence in the background of these disorders. These also appeared to be the most important precursors of unconsummated marriage in our study.

This research focuses on the analysis of Chapter 1.24 of the Refutatio omnium haeresium. Here the author presents the lifestyle of the Brahmans. Their habits are very peculiar: for instance, it is their custom to be naked, to eat the fruits of the earth and to avoid meat. There are no women nor children with them. They despise death, always celebrate God and raise hymns in his honour. Moreover, they also believe that God is Logos. The text raises several questions: first of all, the reason why the Brahmans are presented in a positive light. The information reported by the author is, partly, confirmed by a long tradition in classical antiquity that reconstructs their image, attributing to them the stereotypes of a barbaric people. Therefore, the aim of this study is to verify from which perspectives these characters are presented, first by Graeco-Roman authors, and, secondly, in the literature of the Church Fathers, in order to identify the specific connections and the possible divergences.

Youths in Bolgatanga municipality in the Upper East Region in the rural north of Ghana suffer health and social problems that are caused by their premarital and unsafe sexual behaviour. This study provides more knowledge of and insight into the youths' conceptions, motives and practices concerning premarital sex in the specific cultural and social context of Bolgatanga municipality. The results of this study can contribute to the development of more effective sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programmes. Interviews with 33 youths and 27 key respondents were carried out. Four repertoires were constructed to present the dynamics wherein the youths' premarital sexual behaviour takes place. The dominant ideology of abstaining from premarital sex contrasts with the counter ideology of allowing premarital sex, influenced by increasing modernization. SRH programmes should take into account the increasing influence of modernity, gender differences and the compelling influence of ...

Adolescence is marked by the emergence of human sexuality, sexual identity, and the initiation of intimate relations; within this context, abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice. However, programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) or sexual risk avoidance are scientifically and ethically problematic and-as such-have been widely rejected by medical and public health professionals. Although abstinence is theoretically effective, in actual practice, intentions to abstain from sexual activity often fail. Given a rising age at first marriage around the world, a rapidly declining percentage of young people remain abstinent until marriage. Promotion of AOUM policies by the U.S. government has undermined sexuality education in the United States and in U.S. foreign aid programs; funding for AOUM continues in the United States. The weight of scientific evidence finds that AOUM programs are not effective in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse or chang...

For 10 years, a prospective study has been taking place in Germany to examine the use of natural family planning (NFP). As natural methods are behavioral methods, use-effectiveness, acceptability and continuation rates are very much influenced by patterns of sexual behavior. Therefore we performed an analysis of the sexual behavior of NFP users. Out of the data base of 1211 clients and 12,591 cycles we could identify a group of 300 women, all NFP beginners, with 5900 contraceptive cycles, who contributed at least 12 cycles with reliable recording of their sexual activity. Different groups were analyzed with methods of analysis of variance and regression models to find out significant differences in their sexual behavior with respect to sociodemographic structure and time of use. Nearly half of all the women systematically combine the fertility awareness part of NFP with other family planning methods. They use barriers in more than 60% of their cycles. The other half never or only in...