Figuring it out: sexual knowledge building during childhood and adolescence of Latino males

For Latinas, teen birthrates are disproportionately high in relation to the population when compared to other races/ethnicities; early, unintended pregnancy has been shown to have negative effects on the future academic and emotional success as well as the physical and mental health of young women. It is important that research and prevention focus on reducing the rates of teen birth to these young women and girls. Traditionally, research on pregnancy prevention has focused on females rather than males; this project focused on Latino males in order to include them in the discussion and research of teen pregnancy prevention. The purpose of this exploratory study was to qualitatively investigate the ways in which undergraduate, Latino males learned about sex and sexuality during childhood and adolescence. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Growth and Development was used as a framework for understanding how individuals acquire information about sexuality while a socio-constructivist approach to learning was used to theoretically explain sexual learning. In addition, a process of self-reflection was utilized to minimize research bias. Thirteen self-identified Latino males, who were born in Texas, spoke English fluently, and were enrolled as undergraduate students, participated in two in-depth interviews. During these interviews, participants were asked to recount their experiences learning about sex and sexuality during childhood and adolescence. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded; nine participants then returned to provide feedback on the analytical process. A number of themes emerged from these interview transcripts that describe how the participants interacted with sources of information (parents, teachers, peers, media) within various environments (school, neighborhood, home, media) and the process they used to create meaning from this information, some of which was accurate and some of which was inaccurate and at times contradictory. Utilizing a complex process, these men constructed an understanding of sexuality; using these fragmented pieces of information, they had to “figure it out” and make sense out of a confusing and often frightening sexual world. This active construction of sexual knowledge, or sexual knowledge building, is described, and the implications for practical use and further research are discussed.