I know we were discussing abstinence programs, but these problems are not
just limited to these types of programs. Many school programs are changed
quite a bit by the time they hit the school systems - the schools pick and
choose what they want to use based on time and resources. Few studies
measure how effective these programs actually are when this occurs.
At 08:32 AM 2/27/01 -0500, Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote:
>On the issue of the effectiveness of abstinence only programs.
>My senior seminar students happen to be presenting today on this very issue.
>There are many problems with the research in this area. First, many
>adolescents
>are not sexually active (in one study 47% of students in Grades 9-12 had not
>engaged in intercourse). Thus, programs might have a hard time demonstrating
>behavior changes. Second, the programs are notoriously poorly evaluated with
>many only including measures of attitude and not behavior change. Third, many
>programs are of such a short duration that it is hard to image that they could
>(regardless of the content) lead to behavior change.
>In any case, programs that use an exclusive abstinence message are not
>effective
>(conclusion by a very pro abstinence review article in Journal of Adolescent
>Health, 1999). However, some problem with an abstinence-plus-other-stuff are
>effective. Of course the size the abstinence portions varies a great deal from
>program to program.
>
>What is fascinating about federal funding is that provision of the two major
>federally funded programs is that materials must conform to what has come
>to be
>known as the (a)-(h) definition of abstinence education. Among other
>requirements, this definition mandates that funded programs teach abstinence
>until marriage (or until death, whatever comes first!) thus establishing
>marriage as the expected standard of human sexual activity not just for
>children
>but for everyone ("a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the
>context of
>marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity") It also
>means that
>you cannot teach about birth control except by pointing out that birth control
>does not completely protect against STDs and pregnancy. The definition
>does not
>include any definition of sexual activity. This is left up to the individual
>states. Finally, one part of the definition mentions the importance of
>attaining
>self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity. Self-sufficiency is
>probably a good goal (in general) but is it really necessary as a prerequisite
>to sexual activity? I can think of quite a few adults who would not qualify!
>Oh one other thing. The program cannot tell young people "to wait" until they
>are older or more mature. They can only be told to wait "until marriage".
>Marie
>
>References
>Thomas, M. H. (1999). Abstinence-based programs for prevention of adolescent
>pregnancies. Journal of Adolescent health, 26, 5-17.
>Young, M. & Goldfard, E. S. (2000). The problematic (A) - (H) in abstinence
>education. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 25, 156-162.
Deb
Dr. Deborah S. Briihl
Dept. of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
(229) 333-5994
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dbriihl/
Well I know these voices must be my soul...
Rhyme and Reason - DMB
