Affective and Sexual Education of young adults who lived in foster care homes
Conference:
ECER 2014
Format:
Paper

Session Information

08 SES 02, Challenges of Sexuality Education: Research Highlights from Portugal

Paper Session

Time:
2014-09-02
15:15-16:45
Room:
B101 Sala de Aulas
Chair:
Monica Carlsson

Contribution

The present National Project Competencies Development for Health and Healthy Sexuality based on the Identification of Needs in Scholar Milieu and Institutional MilieuP (TDC/CPE-CED/120404/2010), in action-research methodology, now in a diagnosis phase, is working by the collection, eliciting and interpretation of eight case-studies (Cohen et al., 2008)

Severe family dysfunctions have led to residence host of a progressive number children and young Portuguese people (Instituto da Segurança Social, 2013), aiming to protect them from physical and emotional threatening contexts, including premature sexual and health risky behaviors (Antunes, 2010; Magalhães, 2010).

Dysfunctional families (Furniss, 1991; Marvasti, 1995; Alves, 2007; Dias, 2010, p 35) refers to those presenting episodes of domestic/intimate partner violence, existing reduced bonds, frequent change of partner, limited communication and ambivalent rules ("yes" and "no", and usually simultaneous) or inadequate. Other criteria are death, separation/divorce, or serious family accidental crises, like emigration and/or change of residence, absence of significant figure, like the father, traditionally.

The main purpose of this work is to understand the conceptions and phenomena associated to the sexuality and affectivity themes of youngsters that lived in long term foster care catholic homes, in order to create structures that stimulate personal and social skills in youngsters that are now living outside families.

The law reinforcement that have been published in Portugal (Law n.º 120/99; Law n.º 60/2009; Ordinance n.º 196-A/2010) concerning the implementation of Sex Education (SE) in scholar environment, has been followed by us while, simultaneously, we have carried out research in this domain 

(Anastácio, 2007; 2010), realized training sessions for teachers and educators and tried to know the results of SE implementation in other countries through the description and analysis of SE programs in schools (Kirby, 2007; quoted by UNESCO, 2009 a, vol. I, p. 12), and protection institutions.

Being one problem the difficulty of the implementation of SE in a consistent and continuous way by teachers and educators, as we know trough the contact we have with schools and protection institutions, and one another the emergence of sexual behaviors of the young people that can threaten their sexual health experience, our proposal is to make a planned intervention for which we define the following research questions: (1) How is it possible to promote sexual health and sexuality education in schools and protections institutions?; (2) Are there differences between scholar environment and institutional environment concerning the implementation of a SE Program?

Assuming that sex education can be a way to reduce sexual health problems of youth as well as is an important dimension of individual health, we intend to search responses to the research questions above, considering as theoretical framework to guide this project health promotion models and action research methodology, which has in common a cycle that include since identification of needs, planning the intervention or action and doing its evaluation The health promotion model that referred the development of competencies from the identification of needs of the individuals by themselves is the empowerment model, distinguishing self-empowerment and community empowerment and considering the organizational aspects that can be related to the inclusion of the theme in the curriculum.

Method

Action research seems us to be the more appropriate methodology as, instead of its demonstrated potentialities in the improvement of educative practices after its origin in the resolution of social problems (Cohen et al., 2008), it has still in common the empowerment concept, although more collective than individual. Thus, already knowing the scholar environment and the institutional environment due to the contact we have with teachers and educators who express to us their needs, our objective now is to make official agreements with schools and protection institutions and to analyze their organizational dynamics and educative projects (Tasks 1 and 2), to identify children’s and young people’s need and interests according their age in different educative contexts, as well as to do a survey about professional development needs of teachers and educators from several school levels (Tasks 3 and 4). Thus, we intend to characterize not only school’ dynamics but also the dynamics of institutionalization contexts from the analysis of data obtained (Task 5). This diagnostic will be the anchorage point to define the action or intervention program, which will include teachers and educators training (considering the collaboration of health services) in parallel with the implementation of the sexuality education program for children and adolescents (Tasks 6 and 7). All data obtained from the intervention program will be registered by appropriate instruments to each method, being afterwards submitted to quantitative and qualitative analysis and external data triangulation (Tasks 8, 9 and 10). The evaluation of the intervention will be based on these results (Task 11). The observed efficacy will compose a set of suggestions to apply in other educative institutions and will be disseminated in scientific publications and in publications for stakeholders (Task 12). It is in a bilateral empowerment sense and through the action research methodology that we intend to develop this project, expecting to find an efficient model of education to healthy sexuality. As we said, we are using semi-structured interviews, created a specific guide, with two parts: affiliations, bonds, and educational history; and Sexual Education (SE). We collected significant experiences reports. We wanted to know about core issues: the continuity of the relationships between peers and caregivers of the institution; how do they conceive the sexuality dimension in their past and actual lives; how was the sexual and affective education brought up and by whom; perceptions of the representations of adults about adolescence sexuality.

Expected Outcomes

With ages between 18 and 24 years old, the eight ex-residents were (un)employed and/or students, not married, with no children and lived much more than four years in a care home. The interviews were subjected to discourse analyses and an a priori category analysis. None of them reported full motives for the family separation and institutionalization, ignoring or rejecting the adversity, and maltreatment/abuse on their childhood. The dialogues that caregivers maintained with them, when they were young diverged by gender, speaking women with the girls about issues like “menstruation” and “body issues” (with heightened concern on pregnancy). Religious Brothers discussed more with the boys than with girls about sex and disease avoidance. The participants reported affective bonds, but present intimacy/trust relationships are limited. It seems urgent that adult of reference debate feelings/emotions and help the young ones in decision making, autonomy, and in the search for the overcoming of sexual-affective problems (traumatic sexualization, risk behaviors, sexual avoidance and sexual dissatisfaction). Action research in education is used in several areas, being important for this project the following: attitudes and values of young adults: encouraging more positive attitudes to work, or modifying their value systems with regard to some aspect of life; continuing professional development. We are increasing powers of analysis, of heightening self-awareness; management and control.

References

Almeida, A., André, I. & Almeida, H. (1999). Sombras e marcas. Os maus tratos às crianças na família. Análise Social, 150, 91-121. Alves, S. (2007). Filhos da madrugada: Percursos adolescentes em lares de infância e juventude. Lisboa: Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas. Anastácio, Z. (2007). Educação Sexual no 1.ºCEB: Concepções, Obstáculos e Argumentos dos Professores para a sua (não)Consecução. Tese de Doutoramento, Universidade do Minho e Universidade Claude Bernard Lyon-1. Anastácio, Z. (2010).Sexualidade na Fase Intermédia da Adolescência: Relacionamentos, Comportamentos e Conhecimentos. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology. INFAD Revista de Psicología, N.º 2, 2010, 695-705. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2008). Research methods in education. 6th Ed. London: Routledge. Dias, I., Ribeiro, C., & Magalhães, T. (2010. A construção social do abuso na infância. In T. Magalhães (coord.), Abuso de crianças e jovens: da suspeita ao diagnóstico (pp. 7-21). Lisboa: Lidel – Edições Técnicas. Furniss, T. (1991). The multiprofessional handbook of child sexual abuse: Integrated management, therapy and legal intervention. London: Routledge. Instituto de Segurança Social, I. P (2012) CASA 2012- Relatório de Caracterização Anual da Situação de Acolhimento das Crianças e Jovens. Lisboa: Instituto de Segurança Social. Law n.º 120/1999, in Diário da República, I Série, de 11 de agosto de 1999. (garante da execução de saúde reprodutiva enquanto direito.) Law n.º 60/2009, de 6 de agosto de 2009 (obrigatoriedade de ES e organização para a Educação Sexual existir nas escolas, segundo princípios e regras a adotar.) Magalhães, T. (2005). Maus tratos em crianças e jovens. Guia prático para profissionais. 4ª Edição. Coimbra: Quarteto. Marvasti, J. (1995). Play diagnosis and play therapy with children victims of incest. In R. O’Connor & C. Schaefer (Eds.), Handbook of play therapy (Vol. II). N.Y.: Wiley and Sons. ORDINANCE n.º 196-A (2010), in Diário da República, I Série nº 69, de 9 de abril de 2010. (Ministério da Saúde e da Educação regulamentam a Lei nº 60/2009, de 6 de agosto, quanto a obrigatoriedade de ES nas escolas. (Especificação de temáticas no 1º, 2º e 3º ciclos e ensino secundário.) UNESCO (2009). International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education: The rationale for sexuality education . Vol 1,UNESCO - France.

Author Information

Judite Zamith Cruz (presenting / submitting)
Centre for Research in Education, University of Minho, Portugal
S. Caetano Foster Care Home – Training service, Braga, Portugal
Education Institute, University of Minho, Portugal
Research Center in Child Studies, University do Minho, Portugal

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