Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce

three hundred (one percent of the females and two percent of the males)
reported that they had had their first sexual intercourse with a relative.
(Athanasiou, Shaver, and Tavis, 1970). If this is true of coitus,
intimacy among young siblings, short of incest, can be assumed to
be much more prevalent. No researcher has systematically studied such
encounters, however, and in a sexually repressive society, adolescents
and preadolescents are careful not to be caught in such play, as in the
following case of a twelve year old girl and her baby brother. The second
case is similar in that the approach to an infant girl of about one
and one-half years old by the boy that is baby-sitting her is cautious
and apprehensive.
Not until I was in sixth grade (age 12) did I
have my first experience with the opposite sex.
It was at that time that my first and only
brother was born and I saw a male penis for the
first time. I was amazed by it and wanted to
touch it. I was afraid though, and thought it
was something dirty so I tried not to touch his
penis even when changing his diapers.
When the baby was almost asleep I went into her
room and walked up to the crib. I pulled a large
erection out of my pants and showed it to the
small girl. I asked her what it was and she
said, “pee-pee.” I then proceeded to take her
hand and made her grab it and this excited me
more. Then I remembered what had happened once
before when I was caught and decided that was
enough. I thought, what if she somehow tells her
mother about a “pee-pee?” This thought ended my
experience with this girl.
Results of Infant Sexual-Affectional Encounters
Since relationships are learned, an infant is not likely to form
intimate relationships with anyone throughout his life time if no one
has ever formed intimate relationships with him. (Landreth, 1967). In
the first eighteen months of life, autoerotic activity, in the form of
genital play, has been shown to be an indicator of whether or not the
infant is having adequate affectional encounters with others. Where the
infant-mother encounters are positive and at a maximum, infants engage
in autoerotic activities occasionally when by themselves. Among children
reared in private families, Spitz (1949) found that sixteen out of
seventeen infants manifested genital play within the first year at ages
which were on the average two months earlier than those of infants
cared for in nurseries. In situations where intimate encounters are inadequate,
rocking--rhythmic movements back and forth or from side to
side, commonly in a sitting position and commonly involving head banging--results;
when personal encounters are normal, genital play results.
Where the encounters between mother and infant were “optimal” in
the first year of life, genital play was present in all cases and general
development surpassed that of the average infant in all respects.
Where the encounters between mother and infant were problematic, genital
play was much rarer and other activities tended to replace it. Finally,
when infant-mother encounters were absent, genital play was
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